Last year, the Buccaneers splurged on three big-name free agents: Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks, and Eric Wright.
Wright already is gone. While Nicks is still there, he’s not really there -- because of a toe injury that will always be there for Nicks.
Nicks showed up for camp with his foot heavily bandaged, and he has participated sparingly in practice. He explained to reporters that it’s a condition that won’t completely be going away. Ever.
“I will have to deal with it my whole life,” Nicks said, via JoeBucsFan.com. “Honestly, it is not 100 percent, yet. I plan on playing some this next preseason game and obviously, the third one. We will see how it goes.”
Regardless of how it goes, it’s never going away.
“I have all the confidence in the world I will be back to playing,” Nicks said. “I will just have to deal with it my whole life. I would lie if I told you it didn’t affect me at all. It affects the way I walk, the way I stand around. I have to stand a certain kind of way. It is something I just have to deal with. I don’t want to get into taking painkillers and not knowing if it is hurting.”
It’s unclear whether Nicks is suffering from turf toe or some other toe injury. Regardless, it’s affecting him -- and it will be affecting him forever.