The Tampa Bay Buccaneers deactivated two of its players, running back Doug Martin and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, for its Thursday night game versus the Atlanta Falcons.

The team announced through a Twitter post that the two players and few others are inactive for the game.

Last week, Martin injured his left knee during a match against the St. Louis Rams. According to Sports Illustrated, the running back has only played in seven games since the start of last season.

He followed that week with him just sitting on the bench and watching Bobby Rainey do his part for the team. Some reports claimed that the Buccaneers did not want to take their chances on him especially if they are facing Atlanta. The team, however, is expecting that he will be able to recover very soon so that he can join the next games after Sunday.

According to Rant Sports, the team is not risking game results by letting Martin play with Rainey having proved to be a promising alternative--penetrating and destroying the defense of the Rams. The report added that even if Martin played for his team, he may not still have been able to contribute to Tampa Bay as much as they need him to.

Going against Atlanta would mean a strong offensive edge to the Bucs as the former is known to have a weak defense especially when they allow opponents to have a 154.5 average in rushing yards per game. Rant Sports said that the strategy whcich could work for the Bucs is for them to "run the ball early" against their opponent to seal a victory on Sunday.

As for McCoy, he has been declared inactive after he broke his hand also during the Rams game on Sunday.

In an earlier interview with Tampa Bay Times, he said that he wants to practice caution when he returns to play.

"We're trying to figure out the best way to keep it protected. Obviously, it's better if I'm out there but still a long season. It can always get worse. That's the risk of going out there Thursday ... time is very short this week, so not having a full week to recover is definitely working against me but I'm a fighter...Most of it is pain tolerance, but as much as you want to be out there, you also want to be smart,'' he said.

Because of these injuries making players inactive for a game or two, the Bucs certainly hope that both Martin and McCoy will be able to recover fast from their injuries and get back on the field. But while they are not playing, the team's only choice is to make the most of what they have.