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Da'Quan Bowers Injury: Buccaneers DE eyes return

With game-changing defensive Adrian Clayborn lost for the season to a knee injury, Tampa Bay's attention could shift towards the return of another injured DE - Da'Quan Bowers. The Buccaneers' defensive end ruptured his Achille's tendon in the offseason, but was placed on the PUP - physically unable to perform - list instead of injured reserve with a hope that he could be back at some point in the 2012 season.

Bowers talked to the Tampa Bay Times Monday about a potential return:

"It's been a long process, since May, it gets overwhelming at times," Bowers said. "You've got to take it day by day. I know what my purpose is, I've got to work hard to get back where I was last year. It's a tough injury to come back from. The staff here has been doing everything in their power to make sure I have a healthy comeback.

If Bowers returns, it wouldn't be until Week 6 at the earliest, as stipulated by the league for any player on the PUP list. Bowers said that a decision to return is entirely up to head coach Greg Schiano, and that he still has four weeks of rehab ahead of him.

For more on the Buccaneers, please be sure to check out out blog Bucs Nation and SB Nation Tampa Bay for all the latest news and updates.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.