Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers Optimistic Doug Martin Returns Sunday

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense might be getting a boost this weekend against the Bears if Doug Martin returns.

It’s been a lot longer than many people thought it would be, but it looks as though the long awaited return of Doug Martin has finally come. After the Buccaneers have been through four starting running backs this season, now the NFL’s second leading rusher from 2015 will look to provide a boost to a struggling offense short on weapons.

With Mike Evans being the only playmaker on that side of the ball at the moment, getting Doug Martin back opens up far more of the playbook for head coach Dirk Koetter as well as forces defenses to respect the Bucs’ run game, opening up more passing lanes for Jameis Winston.

Head coach Dirk Koetter spoke about it with SiriusXM NFL Radio following the loss to the Falcons;

Now, it’s obviously not certain that Martin returns. He’s already suffered a setback and hamstrings are tricky injuries to return from. They can flare up at any moment and send a player back to the sidelines. We, of course, hope that isn’t the case with Martin as Koetter could desperately use him back in the offense to help control the game on the ground.

No, Martin isn’t the speed threat this team will certainly be in search of this coming off-season, but we all saw how well he ran the ball last year. Jacquizz Rodgers did a pretty good job filling in after Charles Sims went down, that is until Quizz went down himself.

Some love him, some don’t, but there’s no denying a Doug Martin return Sunday against the Chicago Bears would do wonders for Koetter, Winston, and the rest of this Buccaneers offense moving forward into the second half of the season. In fact, there are some favorable matchups coming up regarding run defenses.

It’s nice to see this team starting to get healthy, isn’t it?