“Carlton Davis and His Injured Toe – A Focus by JoeBucsFan.com” – Top

So last night made it two games in a row with Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis not playing because of a toe injury.

Joe didn’t hear the toe was broken. So “toe injury” to Joe means it is minor. However, Joe wanted to know more, in part due to fear because the worst thing that can happen to a skill position player is the dreaded turf toe.

It killed Deion Sanders’ career and is still giving him problems some 23 years later.

And of course, who could forget how former Bucs offensive lineman Carl Nicks’ turf toe (along with the MRSA) did in his career.

So last night Joe asked Bucs coach Todd Bowles if Davis is fighting a turf toe injury. Bowles admitted he isn’t sure.

“It’s a toe injury,” Bowles said. “Right now, I don’t know if it’s a turf toe injury or a regular injury.

“But, he’s trying to get back out there and when he comes back, we’ll be ready for him.”

Davis did give it a go last night in pregame warmups but couldn’t get on the field. Joe is confident the Bucs weighed playing him with not wanting to aggravate the injury and losing him longer than one game, sort of like Vita Vea.

Vea, the Bucs’ manbeast defensive tackle, was questionable to play last night, though he did. Vea is dealing with a pec injury. Those things are nasty and many torn pecs will put a guy on the shelf for the season.

“We’re not trying to get him hurt too much, you know,” Bowles said of Vea. “We tried to rotate him as much as we could, and we got out of him what we could.”

If Davis has turf toe with Vea’s having a bad pec, those are two delicate injuries the Bucs and Davis/Vea are going to have to navigate. It’s almost worth playing it safe and keeping those guys out a game or two so they don’t miss months — or end their seasons.