Rueben Bain Jr. sprained the AC joint in his shoulder during the Buccaneers' joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the first-round pick is still expected to play Week 1 at Cincinnati.
UPDATE: #Buccaneers rookie EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. suffered an AC Sprain, but it is considered “nothing serious,” per @AdamSchefter
— CanesMuse (@canesmuse) August 26, 2026
He’s expected to be ready for Week 1. pic.twitter.com/9qK1nyLWyC
The injury has been described as "nothing serious," but HC Todd Bowles still played things safe and kept Bain out of last Wednesday's practice.
Tampa Bay opens Sept. 13 against the Bengals, which leaves Bain more than two weeks from the day of the sprain. He had worked most of Tuesday’s joint practice before Al-Quadin Muhammad took the last reps during the team periods.
Tampa Bay lost 19-0 at Jacksonville in their final preseason game on Aug. 28. That game was four days after he sprained the AC joint in Tuesday's joint practice with the Jaguars.
He also sat out the preseason opener against the New York Jets. At the time, the staff said they had already seen enough from him in camp and the joint practices.
He debuted against the Kansas City Chiefs and played six snaps on two three-and-outs. Pro Football Focus gave him an 88.8 grade on that tiny sample, which was the highest among defensive rookies at the time.
It's almost time for Rueben Bain to prove the haters wrong and the supporters right
When Bain fell in the draft, Miami fans knew that it would be something that NFL teams would regret. And when he was drafted, the football world immediately knew that his mentality would put him in a position to compete at a high level in the NFL. Since that night, the legend and community behind him has only grown.
Through practice and offseason tape, the conversation around Bain has moved past his arm length and to a potential defensive rookie of the year award. Now he's got two weeks to make sure everything feels right so he can fulfill his dreams.
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