This is Bucs LB Devin White on Instagram today. For what it’s worth, we reached out to his agent Sunday morning asking for insights on him being inactive and got no response. pic.twitter.com/1BhOGQ6wwo
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 19, 2023
Tampa Bay’s newest Devin White storyline is in full swing.
The Bucs linebacker made a cryptic social media post on Tuesday, referring back to an earlier post he made on Sept. 10 saying that “disrespect” motivated him more than anything. The post comes after a series of events pertaining to him being inactive against the Green Bay Packers in Week 15, as there seems to be a disconnect between whether that was because he was benched for linebacker K.J. Britt or because his foot was still too injured.
“& (sic.) just like that!! We back,” White wrote. “Built a story but didn’t ask the main character any information… where they do that at.”
Head coach Todd Bowles previously asserted that Devin White’s foot wasn’t ready to go in time for Tampa Bay’s game against Green Bay — ESPN reporter Jenna Laine corroborated that information herself. Others, however, have noted the strange timing of White’s inactive status — the team was able to downgrade safety Ryan Neal and upgrade defensive lineman Vita Vea before the game on Saturday, but that’s when Bowles said he had supposedly found out about White not being ready. Additionally, the team updated cornerback Josh Hayes’ status on the day of the game, but White’s inactive status wasn’t reported by the team until inactives came out.
Despite White’s claims that those who “built a story” haven’t talked to “the main character,” Auman noted that he attempted to ask White’s agent about what happened on Sunday and did not receive a response. As such, the situation — and White’s status for Week 16’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars — remains up in the air.
Linebacker K.J. Britt has taken White’s reps in his absence. Since White was injured after the team’s game against Indianapolis, Britt has recorded 16 total tackles and seven solo tackles in around 2.5 games of action.
