Starting strong-side linebacker #52 Jonathan Casillas did not travel with the team on Saturday to Buffalo, the consequence of an undisclosed team rule violation.
“Jonathan Casillas did not make the trip. He did not meet our standards for our football players, so there’s punishment that goes with that,” Head Coach Lovie Smith said. “He’ll be back with us tomorrow. We’ll start getting ready for the Redskins.”
Smith would not discuss the nature of the infraction, but did imply it was not serious.
“We handle things like that internally,” he said. “But again, with Jonathan being back with our football team tomorrow that kind of tells you about how we feel about it.”
#51 Danny Lansanah started in Casillas’ stead, recording 1 tackle and 4 assists. Casillas is expected to return when the Buccaneers play the Redskins on Thursday, August 28.
Update August 26, 2014 at 10:28 a.m. EST:
While Casillas would not disclose the nature of the violation, he did address this matter with the following comments:
“It’s not something I’m happy with, but a mistake was made, the punishment was dealt and I had to deal with it,” Casillas said. “It’s tough because I don’t want to miss a game or be a person labeled as somebody who violates any rules. I’ve never had a history of that or anything, but a mistake was made.”
Casillas returned to practice with the rest of the team on Sunday.