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TAMPA, Fla – Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said on Friday tight end Rob Gronkowski (ribs) and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul (hand, shoulder) will be the decisions of the game against the Patriots New England Sunday.
Gronkowski returned to training on Friday after missing two days this week, while Pierre-Paul trained for the first time since September 15. Arians said on Monday he “hadn’t planned” for Pierre-Paul to play this week.
Gronkowski has been one of the Bucs’ strongest weapons in the red zone this season, while Pierre-Paul has been the emotional leader of a defense that has only had three sacks in the first three games.
Running back Giovani Bernard (knee) and cornerback Jamel Dean (knee) will both be out, meaning the Bucs will be without two of the three starting cornerbacks. Richard Sherman, who signed with the team on Wednesday, will be active.
“We’ll get him up just in case,” Arians said.
Sherman said it would take him about a week to acclimate to the Bucs system.
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