The Tampa Bay Buccaneers confirmed on Tuesday Josh Freeman hurt himself at a shooting range last month and that the injury required five stitches on his throwing hand. According to a series of Tweets by Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times, the cut was to the outside of his thumb and did not affect his ability to grip the football. Freeman had sprained his thumb about a week earlier during the Bucs' game against the Chicago Bears.

Freeman has not looked particularly good since that Bears game on Oct. 23. In the five games since, he has thrown seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In the previous six games, he had thrown five touchdowns and six interceptions. He also fumbled twice, losing one, last week in a loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Perhaps more importantly, the Bucs have gone 0-5 during that stretch after starting the season 4-2. That has left the Bucs with a 4-7 record.

For more insight and analysis of Freeman's struggles, be sure to check out Bucs blog Bucs Nation.