Charles Sims will make debut today

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers activated rookie running back Charles Sims off of the short-term injured reserve last week, but they decided to hold him out of their game against the Cleveland Browns. It was a wise decision, because it would have been difficult for Sims to make his debut against a tough run defense just one day after being activated from a significant ankle injury. Sims has been given time to get ready for this week’s rivalry tilt against the Atlanta Falcons, and they are a much easier matchup for the West Virginia product.

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The Pewter Plank

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Sims will indeed make his debut against the Falcons today, and this is excellent confirmation of what we have fully expected to happen. Skill position rookies Mike Evans and Sims are the two players Buccaneers fans will probably watch for the closest today, because those two could give the organization plenty of hope. Evans starred last week and is pretty much locked in as a future No. 1 receiver, so it will be interesting to see if Sims can also establish himself as a key offensive player.

The coaching staff certainly seems to love Sims, because we’ve always heard reports about how much the Buccaneers believe in him. He drew comparisons to Matt Forte during the pre-draft process due to his ability to make an impact in the passing game, and I’m sure head coach Lovie Smith saw some of that in Sims. He has a great chance of becoming the team’s feature back by the end of the season, and Bobby Rainey is the only one standing in his way; the coaching staff seems to have soured on both Doug Martin (he was on the trading block) and Mike James.