Gerald McCoy Injury: Updates on Buccaneers Star's Hand and Return

Updates from Sunday, Sept. 28

Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com confirms Gerald McCoy is active for Week 4:

Updates from Friday, Sept. 26

Jenna Laine of Sports Talk Florida reported on Gerald McCoy's status for Week 4:

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 24

Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reported on Gerald McCoy's status:

Updates from Monday, Sept. 22

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported the latest on Gerald McCoy's injured hand:

Updates from Thursday, Sept. 18

The Buccaneers have the official status for Gerald McCoy in Week 3:

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport previously had an update on McCoy's status:

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 17

Ira Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune reported on Gerald McCoy's status for Week 3:

Updates from Tuesday, Sept. 16

Gerald McCoy spoke about his broken hand and chance of returning for Week 3 (via Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune):

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times had more on McCoy's injured hand:

Stroud later provided more from McCoy on his hand:

"

'We're trying to figure out the best way to keep it protected,'' McCoy said Tuesday. 'Obviously, it's better if I'm out there but still a long season.

'It can always get worse. That's the risk of going out there Thursday...time is very short this week, so not having a full week to recover is definitely working against me but I'm a fighter...Most of it is pain tolerance, but as much as you want to be out there, you also want to be smart.''

"

Lovie Smith also spoke about McCoy's status for Week 3 (via Stroud and Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times):

Updates from Monday, Sept. 15

Roy Cummings of The Tampa Tribune has the latest on Gerald McCoy's status for Thursday's game against the Falcons:

"

Gerald McCoy stepped into the Buccaneers locker room for only a brief moment Monday, just long enough for someone to ask him how his broken and very swollen — yet unwrapped — left hand felt.

“We’ll see,’’ McCoy said.

That’s pretty much what the Bucs are saying, too.

McCoy would not have been able to participate had the team practiced on Monday. His status for Thursday’s game against the Falcons is hardly certain, but the Bucs are not ready to rule him out just yet.

“We’re going to let that play out,’’ Bucs coach Lovie Smith said when asked about McCoy, who broke his hand midway through the first defensive series of Tampa Bay’s 19-17 loss to the Rams on Sunday.

"

Original Text 

Sunday's string of game-altering injuries continued into the late games, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost stud defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to a hand injury.    

As Buccaneers.com's Scott Smith noted, the 26-year-old won't return in Week 2:

Pro Football Talk reported on the extent of the injury:

McCoy, the former No. 3 overall pick out of Oklahoma, recorded 9.5 sacks last season, earning a First-Team All-Pro nod as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league.

With defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Michael Johnson also out, the Bucs' defensive line has some major question marks going forward.