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Tampa Bay Buccaneers list several players as questionable

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have seven players listed as questionable, including starting linebacker Lavonte David, center Evan Dietrich-Smith and defensive tackle Clinton McDonald.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

After missing two practices this week, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David was a limited participant during Friday's session, according to the team's practice and injury report. A hamstring injury forced David to miss his first career game last week and has kept him sidelined during practice since being limited during last week's opening session (Wed).

There's a chance he could play this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"(David) is definitely getting better and has a chance," said Smith via the Tampa Bay Times. "We take our time with hamstrings. But he is doing some things on a limited basis. Not necessarily practice, but just kind of getting back into it."

Losing their weakside linebacker will hurt Tampa as much as Vontaze Burfict's absence hurts Cincinnati. Davis, tied for the league-lead with 116 tackles, is the only NFL player since Week 1 in 2013 with 250-plus tackles (260), five-plus sacks (7) and five-plus interceptions (5). David, who has 14 tackles-for-loss, is one shy of the league lead. However, not having David isn't completely paralyzing. Tampa Bay's defense allowed 204 yards of total offense to the Chicago Bears without David last week -- their lowest total since Dec. '10 against the Seattle Seahawks (174).

However, David is feeling pretty good, per the Tampa Bay Tribune:

"I’m feeling really good,’’ David said after he returned to practice on Friday for the first time since he was hurt early last week. "I’m feeling really confident about Sunday.’’

David was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. The Bucs will decide just before game time whether he'll play, but even coach Lovie Smith was encouraged.

"You have to be careful with (hamstrings),’’ he said. "You can feel a lot better and stop having pain, but you're still not there quite yet. But Lavonte is close, and that’s definitely a big boost for our defense.’’

Also dealing with a hamstring injury is defensive tackle Clinton McDonald, who didn't practice at all this week. He could miss his first game of the season, leaving Akeem Spence to replace him.

"Yes," Smith replied when asked if he has confidence in Spence. "You know we've been dressing eight defensive lineman for a period of time now, and all of them play. But Akeem Spence, if we dress seven, he’s a big part of what we've been doing. We feel very comfortable with him playing either the nose or the three-technique position because of that."

Spence has played 265 snaps this season on defense, accumulating an overall Pro Football Focus grade of -10.5 and a team-worst -9.0 against the run.

David and McDonald are listed questionable.

Starting center Evan Dietrich-Smith, dealing with an illness this week, is also questionable after missing all three practices this week.

"Evan Dietrich-Smith has flu type symptoms, so he’s been sick," Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith said Friday afternoon. "We’ve been kind of resting him up to try to get him as well as possible as soon as possible. We have a couple of our players that have been kind of down under the weather a little bit, but hopefully they’ll be good to go."

BENGALS WED THUR FRI STATUS
LB Vontaze Burfict Knee DNP DNP DNP OUT
DE Margus Hunt Ankle DNP DNP DNP OUT
LB Nico Johnson NIR DNP DNP -- Questionable
S George Iloka Groin LP LP FP Probable
DE Robert Geathers Toe DNP LP FP Probable
OG Mike Pollak Knee DNP FP FP Probable
WR Mohamed Sanu NIR - Illness DNP FP -- Probable
WR Greg Little NIR -- DNP FP Probable
LS Clark Harris NIR - Illness DNP FP -- --
CB Adam Jones NIR - Tooth DNP FP -- --
OT Andrew Whitworth NIR DNP -- -- --
BUCCANEERS WED THUR FRI STATUS
DE Da'Quan Bowers Knee LP LP FP Probable
LB Lavonte David Hamstring DNP DNP LP Questionable
C Evan Dietrich-Smith Illness DNP DNP DNP Questionable
DT Clinton McDonald Hamstring DNP DNP DNP Questionable
TE Brandon Myers Calf DNP DNP DNP Questionable
TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins Back LP LP LP Questionable
RB Charles Sims Ankle LP LP FP Probable
TE Luke Stocker Concussion DNP DNP DNP Questionable
S Major Wright Shoulder LP LP FP Questionable
S Dashon Goldson Illness -- -- DNP Probable

DNP - Did Not Participate
LP - Limited Participation
FP - Full Participation

Game Status
Out = Player will not play
Doubtful = 25% chance a player will play
Questionable = 50% chance a player will play
Probable = 75% chance a player will play
(-) = Not Listed - No game status available