Devin White Told Bucs He 'Couldn't Go' After Team Decided Not To Start Him Against Packers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Devin White was set to return to action on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers after being sidelined with a foot injury the last two games. Instead, he didn't take the field, and not because of a lingering injury, but because he simply didn't want to.

White was a full participant in practice on Thursday and Friday, and despite being questionable on Sunday, he was ready to go ahead of the game up until he was informed he wouldn't be starting.

According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, when KJ Britt was given the nod to start it did not sit well with White, and the former LSU star essentially said 'nah, I'm good' and decided not to suit up.

“We made him inactive based on him saying he couldn’t go today,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said.

“That’s probably a question for him but I’m sure he’d say his foot was sore,” Bowles said when asked if White told him . “But he told me he couldn’t go so we played the guys we had to play.”

According to Stroud, White did fly home with the team but was not in the locker room after Tampa Bay's win on Sunday for media availability.

Obviously, this is not the best of looks for White, but it's also not entirely surprising.

White asked for a trade back in March, but ultimately decided to stick with the Bucs and earn $11.7 million under the team's club option.

To make the situation even weirder, Bowles was asked if Britt had earned a starting role after his six-tackle performance against the Packers but couldn't commit to him.

“K.J. is playing very good football,” Bowles said. “I don’t know whether he’s worked his way into a starting role ... but he’s definitely earned a lot of playing time.”

So, to recap, the starting role still very much appears to be White's to lose and he's doing his best to lose it by deciding not to play.