Bucs' Doug Martin could be out a month with hamstring injury

Marc Lancaster

Bucs' Doug Martin could be out a month with hamstring injury image

Jameis Winston will have to do a bit more work to carry the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense the next few weeks.

Running back Doug Martin's hamstring injury is expected to cost him about three weeks, NFL Media reported Wednesday. Considering the Bucs have a bye four weeks from now, that could mean we don't see him again until Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers.

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Charles Sims would appear to be the next man up in the Bucs' backfield, though he is averaging only 2.5 yards per carry in limited duty behind Martin through two games. Either way, it's a significant dropoff from a healthy Martin to anyone else on the Tampa Bay roster.

The 27-year-old has been one of the NFL's more effective backs when healthy, but he has had trouble staying on the field. After rushing for 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie in 2012, he played in just 17 games the next two seasons combined. He stayed healthy throughout 2015 and racked up 1,402 yards and six scores — second in the league to Adrian Peterson's 1,485 yards.

 

Marc Lancaster

Marc Lancaster Photo

Marc Lancaster joined The Sporting News in 2022 after working closely with TSN for five years as an editor for the company now known as Stats Perform. He previously worked as an editor at The Washington Times, AOL’s FanHouse.com and the old CNNSportsIllustrated.com, and as a beat writer covering the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, and University of Georgia football and women’s basketball. A Georgia graduate, he has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2013.