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Buccaneers' Koetter says Martin's status 'yet to be determined'

Cliff McBride / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin could be facing an uphill battle as he awaits the end of his four-game suspension.

Martin was issued a four-game sanction in December for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy and has served just one game of the sentence. The 28-year-old completed a stint in a rehab facility after testing positive for Adderall.

Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter revealed during a segment on ESPN's "NFL Live" that Martin will be facing increased competition for carries and that he won't automatically be named the incumbent starter once he returns.

Well, we have deep group of running backs. I mean, mainly due to injury last year we had to play a lot of guys. Jacquizz Rodgers, Charles Sims, Peyton Barber are all guys who played for us last year. Then, we drafted Jeremy McNichols in the fifth round out of Boise State. So, we will be going somewhat with a running back by committee. And then it is still yet to be determined what is going to happen at the end of Doug's suspension. But Doug has sure done a good job up to this point with our offseason program.

Martin is two years removed from a first-team All-Pro selection but he'll need to be at his best as the Buccaneers revamped their entire offense this summer.

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