A fractured rib will keep Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. out for an expected two to four weeks, coach Todd Bowles said on Monday, October 5, taking the defense’s most decorated player away from a winless team that has only three days to prepare for a Thursday night game in Dallas.
Winfield was hurt late in Sunday’s 17–14 home loss to the Green Bay Packers, the defeat that dropped Tampa Bay to 0–4. He finished that game with six tackles, five of them solo. Ian Rapoport was first to relay Bowles’ timeline on Monday afternoon.
#Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. has a rib fracture and is likely to miss 2-4 weeks, coach Todd Bowles said. pic.twitter.com/wjqi74ATdn
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 5, 2026
Even the low end of that range rules him out of the trip to AT&T Stadium. Ifeatu Melifonwu, who was signed to the active roster from the practice squad after being elevated for three games in a row, is expected to step into the starting lineup. The Buccaneers were also waiting on tests for linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who hurt an ankle against Green Bay; the club had not given a diagnosis for him by Monday evening.
Another blow to a sliding season
Winfield’s injury piles onto a season that has unraveled quickly. Tampa Bay is already without quarterback Baker Mayfield, and rookie Jalon Daniels will make another start on Thursday. Against the Packers, the Buccaneers trailed 17–7 entering the fourth quarter and pulled within three on Daniels’ 10-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Gainwell with 14:49 left, but they did not score again.
Winfield has been one of the few constants. A Pro Bowl selection last season, he was named the defensive MVP of the Pro Bowl Games in February. He had 24 tackles and one quarterback hit through four games this year, a year after he broke up eight passes, picked off two, recorded a sack and made four stops behind the line. Since arriving as a second-round pick in 2020, he has been a fixture at the back of Bowles’ defense, and his range in coverage and willingness to play near the line are hard to replace with one player.
A two-to-four-week absence would cover the Dallas game and as many as three more after it, depending on how quickly the fracture heals and how much pain he can play through. The team has not offered anything beyond Bowles’ estimate, and it has not said whether Winfield will be placed on injured reserve, which would sideline him for at least four games.
What comes next
The Buccaneers (0–4) play the Dallas Cowboys (2–2) on Thursday, October 8, at 8:15 p.m. EDT. Tampa Bay’s first injury report of the short week will show whether Dennis is able to practice. Follow every status change on the WhyNFL injury tracker.
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