The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed wide receiver Jalen McMillan on injured reserve Wednesday, sidelining him for at least four games, and added quarterback Rypien to the practice squad. ESPN reported both moves.
Injured reserve stopped being a season-ender years ago. The four-game minimum turned it into a parking space, a month-long vacancy a team can plan around rather than a name crossed off the depth chart for good. That's the only mercy in this. McMillan's snaps have to go somewhere, and they'll go to receivers who were already fighting for a smaller share of them.
The Rypien addition is the quieter half of the transaction and the easier one to read. Practice-squad quarterback signings in Week 4 are insurance policies, not succession plans. Tampa Bay is covering an emergency, not auditioning a starter.
One of these moves decides games. The other covers a phone call at 3 a.m.
My ruling: the McMillan stint is the consequential one, and it will be judged by whether Tampa Bay's passing game holds its shape without him. If the offense stalls while he's out, this ordinary Wednesday transaction becomes the week the season bent. I'd rather be wrong about that than right about the alternative.
