TAMPA — The back injury that has sidelined J.R. Sweezy since the guard signed a $32.5 million contract with the Bucs in March is healing, but it's troublesome enough that the club likely will place him on the physically-unable-to-perform list, costing him the first five games of the season.
Sweezy, a free agent from Seattle tabbed to replace retired starter Logan Mankins at left guard, had surgery on a herniated disc in the spring after joining the team. Last week, Sweezy received a second opinion from a doctor in California who did not do the surgery and came away pleased with the results.