Bucs rookie LB Devin White played through tonsillitis, and it sounded miserable
Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White will remember his NFL debut, most likely for the misery he was in.
White was dealing with tonsillitis, which isn’t among the ailments we usually associate with football players. That shouldn’t have been a big deal for the No. 5 overall pick of this year’s draft, right?
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Actually, it sounded downright awful. And his second game — on Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers, which can be live-streamed on the Yahoo Sports app — didn’t go much better as he was pronounced out for the rest of the game with a knee injury.
Devin White lost 10 pounds before opener
Jenna Laine of ESPN.com detailed White’s first NFL game, and the physical stress he was under.
Where to start? White had minor surgery, struggled to speak (not great when he has to call plays), had a tough time breathing, couldn’t eat during the week and lost 10 pounds, couldn’t sleep, and was dehydrated because he couldn’t take enough fluids. He needed five IV bags between Friday and Sunday just to get through the game, Laine wrote.
Despite all of that, White played all 67 defensive snaps for Tampa Bay and had six tackles.
"Nobody even knew what he had going on,” cornerback Vernon Hargreaves told Laine. "He's tougher than me — I'll say that."
White played whole game through pain
White told ESPN.com about the procedure for his tonsillitis, and it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.
"I basically had a minor surgery on my tonsils. ... I had like an abscess coming in behind them so I had to get it drained — it was full of pus. ... It took the world [to be able to play],” White told Laine.
The Buccaneers invested a valuable pick in White, hoping he can be a tone-setter in the middle of their defense. They found out something about his toughness in his first game.
Second career game doesn’t go much better
Any hopes of White having a better game the next week quickly went out the window. The linebacker fell to the ground and was walked off the field with trainers.
After a half-hour weather delay, it was announced that White was out with a knee injury. We’ll see if that will cause the rookie to miss any time in his third game and beyond.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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