Tampa Bay edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. is positioned to return for Tampa Bay’s Thursday visit to Dallas, and that may matter as much to the Cowboys’ passing plan as the better-known absences behind him. Bain practiced fully Wednesday after missing the Buccaneers’ previous two games and carries no game designation. That supports an expected return without promising a particular workload or performance.
The formal part of Tampa Bay’s injury news is less encouraging for its coverage structure. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and cornerback Benjamin Morrison were ruled out on the final Wednesday report. Quarterback Baker Mayfield and linebacker SirVocea Dennis also were declared unavailable. Dallas has a reshaped secondary to investigate, but Bain’s likely presence could make the quarterback’s timing a more immediate concern.
That is the tension facing the Cowboys before Thursday’s 7:15 p.m. CDT kickoff at AT&T Stadium. Winfield’s absence removes an established safety from Tampa’s options, while Morrison’s absence takes away a cornerback choice.
Those vacancies do not automatically turn CeeDee Lamb’s next target into a favorable matchup, yet they should force the Buccaneers to organize their replacements carefully against a receiver who has opened the season with 37 catches for 498 yards.
Tampa’s defense has earned more respect than its 0-4 record suggests. It is allowing 282.8 total yards per game, and the previous three teams Tampa faced each finished at or below 285 total yards. The Buccaneers have limited opponents to a 32.7% third-down conversion rate and have allowed touchdowns on 45.5% of opposing red-zone possessions.
Those are the numbers of a defense capable of making Dallas earn every clean possession, even while two important defensive backs sit out.
Dallas has the passing production to make the absences meaningful. Dak Prescott has accumulated 1,065 yards, eight touchdown passes and a 105.0 passer rating through four games. Lamb’s 17-catch, 189-yard performance in Sunday’s 34-30 win at Houston showed how much volume the offense can funnel toward its primary receiver. His 12-yard touchdown reception from Prescott at the final second supplied the winning points.
The Houston game also supplied a more useful warning than another highlight number. Dallas scored 28 points after halftime and six before it, meaning the offense eventually found its rhythm but did not operate at full scoring pace from the start. Against Tampa, identifying the new coverage answers is only half the job. Prescott must have enough time for those answers to become exploitable.
Tyler Smith’s status sits directly between the pass-rush and receiver questions. Smith was a full participant Wednesday after limited work Monday and Tuesday, yet he remains questionable and is still on injured reserve during the practice period that follows his return designation. Full participation improves the possibility that he can play; it does not amount to activation or settle his role.
Dallas may have to prepare more than one protection arrangement while trying to attack Tampa’s thinner secondary.
Bain’s return would give the Buccaneers another edge rusher to include in that matchup. Tampa has six sacks through four games. Dallas’ offense has allowed sacks on 4.00% of its pass attempts, a measure of sacks surrendered rather than a complete accounting of every kind of pressure. That rate is encouraging, but it cannot settle Thursday’s protection question in advance.
