Daniel Te'o-Nesheim gets a chance to start for Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim has earned the No. 1 spot on the depth chart and is poised to start Sunday against the Washington Redskins. Replacing the injured Adrian Clayborn will be difficult, but it's a situation Te'o-Nesheim has embraced, according to a report in The Tampa Bay Times.

"You want to be able to get out there and show you can play," Te'o-Nesheim told the newspaper, "and prove to your coaches and teams across the NFL that you're a dude."

Te'o-Nesheim, who was picked in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, has only started twice in his still-young NFL career but he's played in every game this season for the Buccaneers.

"Daniel is a good football player, and I've been very impressed with his development since we arrived," coach Greg Schiano told The Tampa Bay Times. "As I've always said to the guys, one man's loss is another man's opportunity, and that's the way the game is. I have a great deal of confidence in Daniel, I think he's going to play very well. He played some good football at Dallas (Sunday). I'm feeling good about Daniel, I hope he can keep doing it."