The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get a nice addition to their secondary after safety Tanard Jackson, who had been suspended for over a year due to violating the league's substance-abuse policy, was reinstated by the NFL. Jackson has not played since Week 2 of the 2010 NFL season, but the Bucs have placed him on their exempt/commissioner's permission list, which means he can begin practicing immediately.
Tanard Jackson Reinstated By NFL
Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson can now join his old team after serving a suspension.
The Bucs have suffered a rash of injuries in their secondary, so when Tanard Jackson is ready to play, it’s going to be a big help says Sander of SB Nation’s Bucs blog, Bucs Nation.
With Cody Grimm and backup Devin Holland on injured reserve, the Bucs have just three real safeties on the roster: Corey Lynch, Sean Jones and Larry Asante. Ronde Barber and Anthony Gaitor could both play safety in a pinch, but neither is an ideal player for the position.
Bucs head coach Rahim Morris has up to two weeks to place him on the active 53-man roster, but it's not likely that will happen for this weeks match up with NFC south opponent, the New Orleans Saints. Mark Dominick, the Bucs general manager, told Yahoo! Sports that there is no set time to get Jackson on the active roster.
“I’ll leave that up to coach Morris and what he does on the practice field over the next four or five days, over the next basically two weeks to see what he can do,” Dominik said. “And the moment we feel like he’s able to help this football team, he’ll be on the field helping us prepare and win games.”
Jackson was originally suspended in 2009 for the first four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He was suspended again for a a year in the 2010 season after Week 2 of the season. “I’m anxious, very excited. Just willing to do whatever it takes at this point to help this team,” Jackson told the media.
Tanard Jackson was fourth round draft pick in 2007 and started the first 32 games of his career. Jackson had developed into one of the better all-around safeties in the NFL during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
For more on Tanard Jackson's reinstatement and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, visit SB Nation's Bucs Blog, Bucs Nation.
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