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Friday update: Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters on Friday that Russell Gage has been ruled out, per Jenna Laine.
Thursday update: Gage remains out of practice, which doesn’t bode well for his availability in Sunday’s game. He’s still got one shot to get on the practice field and likely needs to do so in a limited capacity to avoid being ruled out ahead of the weekend.
Week 9 of the NFL season will see six teams on bye. One of the prime matchups from the remaining teams will see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the Los Angeles Rams. This game was likely circled at the beginning of the season as a marquee matchup, but neither team has been playing up to expectations. The Bucs have dealt with injuries all season, and this week is no different. Wide receiver Russell Gage is still dealing with a hamstring injury and is not practicing on Wednesday in Week 9.
Good news from Bucs practice: Akiem Hicks, Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting, Cam Brate all back and practicing today after the long weekend. Still no Winfield, Goedeke or Gage.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) November 2, 2022
Fantasy football implications for Week 9
Gage has been a solid piece to the Tampa Bay offense but hasn’t taken a step forward regarding fantasy football. To see fantasy relevance, he either needs Mike Evans or Chris Godwin to be missing in action or have a great matchup. Gage is expected to lack both of those things this week against the Rams' defense and should remain on your benches unless anything changes throughout the practice week.
If Gage doesn’t play, it could mean more targets for Julio Jones, but he lacks a relevant workload to be considered for a lineup, even in a week with six teams missing in action.