So now it looks like Torrie Cox, who had already missed the first four games due to a suspension, will miss the rest of the season after being put on injured reserve, bringing the total up to 12. And let's not forget the guys who are hurt but still on the roster: Patrick Chukwurah, Michael Clayton, Michael Pittman, and Alex Smith. Oh, and Greg Spires was hurt last week, too, and may actually have an Achille's injury, which may also put him on IR. At this point, the training room at One Buc has to look like a scene from M*A*S*H after they get a bunch of wounded soldiers dumped on them. Except without all the well-timed witicisms.

"Nurse!"
"Did you call me, Doctor?"
"Why would I call you 'Doctor'? I'm the surgeon."

And so on. Good luck trying to get that brass section of the theme song out of your head.

Cox will be seriously missed on special teams. He is the player generally charged with recovering onside kicks, he's one of the best tacklers on the team and is also a decent kickoff returner. Earnest Graham, another major special teams standout, hasn't been playing much in that capacity since he's the starting tailback and the team can't risk losing him because he was making a tackle on a punt return. The Cardinal kick returner may reel off a couple big ones without some of the Bucs' fastest and most aggressive tacklers chasing them.

And with Pittman also out, the Bucs are kind of fucked on returning kickoffs as well. Pittman and Cox seem to be the only two guys who can return a kickoff with any authority. They had Chad Lucas in there last week (hey, what do you know... I did say his name again) but he was completely ineffective. They'd be better off shoving him back to the practice squad and getting one of those free agent wide receivers we talked about last week. I don't think Edell Shepherd or Peter Warrick have been signed yet. Has Michael Bennett ever returned kickoffs? He's certainly fast enough.

Hey, I've got a bold idea to solve the kickoff return problem next week: the defense should prevent the Cardinals from scoring. That'd do it.

In any event, look for field position to suffer next week while the team continues to put Band-Aids on these missing limbs. The bye will give them some time to maybe get a couple of the walking wounded back on the field and comb the waiver wire and free agency for a couple replacements. But this is starting to get pretty bad.