McNichols appears to be in danger of not making the final roster, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports. "He's doing fine on special teams," head coach Dirk Koetter said Sunday. "He's just making too many mistakes on offense, and he had a protection error that led to a sack, so I took him out at that point. That was my decision. He's going to play a lot on Thursday night and he's going to get one final chance to show what he can do."
The Bucs probably won't want to carry more than four tailbacks into the regular season, so there's likely only one job available in a running back room occupied by Doug Martin (suspension), Charles Sims and Jacquizz Rodgers. Peyton Barber and Russell Hansbrough join McNichols as candidates for that final spot, and both of them clearly outperformed McNichols during Saturday's exhibition against the Browns. Hansbrough, in particular, flashed with a 27-yard scamper at one point. While it might seem unusual for Tampa Bay to cut ties with its fifth-round rookie this soon, Koetter doesn't seem keen on giving a roster spot to someone he sees as a liability on the field.