Buccaneers Place Player on COVID-19 List, Sign LS to Practice Squad

The Buccaneers announced Monday that they placed long snapper Zach Triner on the NFL's COVID-19 list. The initial thought is that Carson Tinker -the same player who took over Triner's duties after Triner injured his finger against Dallas in Week 1- would return to the lineup, but the Bucs released after their Week 10 matchup against the Washington Football Team. To make matters worse, Tinker signed with the Oakland Raiders a few days ago after the Raiders had to place their own long snapper, Trent Sieg on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Therefore, the Bucs signed long snapper Garrison Sanborn to their practice squad Tuesday to not only help mitigate the loss of Triner, but to give them an option in case Triner isn't available. 

The Bucs released the following statement on Tuesday:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers today signed long snapper Garrison Sanborn to the team’s practice squad. 

Sanborn (6-1, 240) returns for his third stint with the Buccaneers after most recently spending time on Tampa Bay’s practice squad from Week 15 of the 2020 season through the team’s run to a Super Bowl LV title. He previously played in all 32 games for the Buccaneers from 2017-18. Sanborn played his first eight professional seasons with the Buffalo Bills (2009-2016) before going on to play for Tampa Bay (2017-18) and San Francisco (2019). Since entering the league as a college free agent out of Florida State in 2009, he has appeared in 163 career games, recording 32 special teams tackles. The Tampa native, and Jesuit High School product, will wear No. 89 for the Buccaneers.

Triner is considered to be vaccinated, so he'll have to show that he's symptom-free and also produce two negative tests within a 24-hour span if he wants to play Sunday against the Bills. If he can't play, the Bucs can then elevate Sanborn to the 53-man twice before they have to sign him to the active roster. So, the veteran long snapper not only provides the Bucs with experience, but he can fill in over the next two weeks in case things don't go as hoped with Triner.