O.J. Howard

Player News

• Buccaneers' O.J. Howard: Entering contact year in '21

  24D ago •

  Howard finished the 2020 regular season with 11 receptions (19 targets) for 146 yards and two touchdowns across four games before suffering his season-ending Achilles injury Week 4 against the Chargers. Howard's 2020 campaign will go down in the books as a prototypical case of a substantial missed opportunity for both player and team. The fourth-year pro appeared to have instant rapport with Tom Brady and had already been targeted 19 times over 132 snaps before going down for the season. The early exit was unfortunately nothing new for the 2017 first-round pick, who's yet to play a full 16 game slate in any of his first four NFL campaigns. Howard has flashed plenty of potential at times and could well have been on his way to a career-best year in 2020; while that possibility was ultimately derailed, he'll certainly have no shortage of motivation to prove himself in his 2021 contract year, when he'll carry a cap hit of just over $6 million as per Spotrac.

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• Buccaneers' O.J. Howard: Heading to IR

  10/06/2020 •

  Howard (Achilles) will be placed on injured reserve, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports. This was expected after it was announced Sunday that Howard had suffered a ruptured Achilles. Howard had 11 catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns before suffering the injury. Cameron Brate stands to pick up Howard's snaps the rest of the way.

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• Buccaneers' O.J. Howard: Ruptures Achilles

  10/04/2020 •

  Coach Bruce Arians said Howard suffered a ruptured Achilles during Sunday's 38-31 win against the Chargers, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports. Howard's fourth campaign will end precisely at the quarter mark of the season, leaving him with 11 catches (on 19 targets) for 146 yards and two touchdowns. The Buccaneers will forge ahead with Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and Tanner Hudson at tight end.

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• Buccaneers' O.J. Howard: Has Achilles injury

  10/04/2020 •

  Howard has been ruled out of Sunday's contest against the Chargers due to an Achilles injury, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Howard scored his second touchdown of the season Sunday in a three-catch, 50-yard performance. However, in the waning moments of the game, it was announced the fourth-year TE wouldn't return as a result of an Achilles concern. There's no telling whether or not it's a season-ender, but the Buccaneers nonetheless are down to Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate and Tanner Hudson at tight end.

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• Buccaneers' O.J. Howard: Makes three catches in win

  09/28/2020 •

  Howard brought in three of four targets for 49 yards in the Buccaneers' 28-10 win over the Broncos on Sunday. The highlight of the athletic tight end's day came on a 33-yard reception, but he was otherwise outshined by position-mate Rob Gronkowski, who doubled up Howard in catches on his way to a team-high figure. Through three games, Howard has put together an 8-96-1 line on 13 targets, which puts him on a pace for slightly better overall numbers than he's produced over his last pair of campaigns, when he's averaged 34.0 receptions, 511.5 yards and three touchdowns. He'll look to make bigger contributions in a Week 4 battle against the Chargers.

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