No Time Like Present for Buccaneer Practice

Workouts on Christmas are almost as rare as trips to the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers are preparing for their first postseason appearance in 15 years and followed a modified schedule Thursday that enabled players to get in a full day’s work and still enjoy the holiday with their families.

Instead of reporting for morning meetings and breaking for lunch before practice, the team started later and worked straight through so the workout could end an hour earlier than usual.

“It’s a different schedule, but we got done what we needed to,” Coach Tony Dungy said. “I think going a little bit later helped them out. We had a good crisp day, so it was fine.”

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New York Giant cornerback Phillippi Sparks was one of three players upgraded to probable for Saturday’s wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings. Sparks, who was inactive last week as a precautionary measure, suffered a lateral sprain in his knee in the second quarter of New York’s 30-10 victory over Washington in Week 16.

In addition to Sparks, linebacker Ryan Phillips and safety Brandon Sanders were upgraded to probable.