When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the field to open training camp on Friday morning, Jacquies Smith will still be watching from the sideline. But that could change any day.
On Wednesday, the Buccaneers placed Smith, a fourth-year defensive end who recorded 13.5 sacks during the 2014-15 seasons, on the active/physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list. It's a common bit of pre-camp housekeeping used on players who are still recovering from injury because it preserves a team's option to place a player on the reserve/PUP list at the start of the regular season. The Buccaneers hope that second part of the move won't be necessary.