Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen was carted off the field during Thursday’s training camp practice. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles revealed during his press conference that Jensen suffered a knee injury, but did not go into detail. Jensen is still undergoing tests to determine the severity of the injury, but the NFL Network reports that the fear is that he has suffered a season-ending injury.
Bowles did not have much information on the injury. “All I know right now is he went down with a knee” before adding that once they know the severity of the injury they will “go from there.”
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco reported that Jensen threw his helmet in frustration after he went down.
If the injury does end up being as serious as it’s reportedly feared and Jensen misses time, it will be a major loss for quarterback Tom Brady’s offense. As for a replacement, 2021 third round pick Robert Hainsey would be the in-house option.
The 31-year-old signed a three-year, $39 million contract extension with the Buccaneers this offseason. He has been with the Bucs since 2018 and in the 2020 season helped lead them to a Super Bowl victory in their home stadium. He made his first Pro Bowl in 2021, allowing just two sacks throughout the regular season and helping the Bucs reach the playoffs, where they were knocked off by the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams.
Tampa Bay is the front-runner in the NFC (+750, according to Caesars Sportsbook) to challenge for another Super Bowl title thanks in part to the return of Brady, following his very short 40-day retirement from the NFL.
SportsLine’s Stephen Oh projects that if Jensen were to miss the season, it would drop Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl aspirations from 11.8% to 8.7%.
