Injury Update On Bucs NT Vita Vea

As if the Bucs hadn’t already been dealing with enough on the injury front, another one of their key starters suffered an injury in Sunday’s 20-16 win over the Lions. Nose tackle Vita Vea was ruled out for the game with a knee injury early in the second half and was seen wearing a brace on his knee in the locker room after the game.

Bucs DT Vita Vea has a brace on his right knee but is standing on both feet.

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) September 15, 2024

The injury occurred due to some friendly fire, as Bucs outside linebacker Yaya Diaby collided with Vea’s knee.

Here is the play where #Bucs NT Vita Vea was injured. Looks like Yaya Diaby who was coming around on the loop fell into his knee. Doesn’t look great pic.twitter.com/yT3X1JArtN

— JC Allen (@JCAllenNFL) September 15, 2024

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It looked pretty bad when it happened, and Vea was ruled out for the remainder of the afternoon fairly quickly. However, the initial news on Vita Vea’s knee injury appears to be positive, all things considered.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (among others) reported Sunday evening that Vea is believed to have suffered an MCL sprain. Pelissero also noted that there’s optimism that it’s not too serious of an injury as the veteran tackle is set to get an MRI in Tampa on Monday.

Nonetheless, it’s a tough break for Vea, as he worked hard this offseason to transform his body partly with the hope of being able to remain healthy and available for his team. For this injury to come on what was a freak play is especially tough.

The Tampa Bay defense did well to withstand the loss of Vea and still emerge with a win in Sunday’s game, but there’s no denying the impact he makes. It became clear relatively quickly, as Detroit found some success on the ground in the second half once big No. 50 left the game.

Vita Vea’s Injury Is Just The Latest Concern For The Bucs

The Bucs are 2-0 for the fourth consecutive season, and they’ll return to Raymond James Stadium in Week 3 to host the 0-2 Broncos. That’s good news.

But both Tampa Bay victories to open the season have been costly in terms of injuries. The team took the field in Week 1 without defensive tackles Calijah Kancey and Logan Hall and proceeded to see All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., No. 2 cornerback Zyon McCollum, No. 3 cornerback Bryce Hall and No. 4 cornerback Josh Hayes all suffer injuries during its season-opening win over the Commanders.

Bucs DTs Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

To make matters worse, right tackle Luke Goedeke entered concussion protocol during the week and missed Sunday’s Week 2 victory in Detroit. And despite Logan Hall and Zyon McCollum returning for this week’s win, Winfield will be out for a few more weeks, Hall will likely miss the rest of the season, Hayes may not be back for a couple of weeks and Kancey will not be rushed back into action as he recovers from a calf injury.

So, when you add Vita Vea’s knee injury – even if it’s not the worst-case scenario – the injury situation for the Bucs is not the least bit ideal. If the MRI comes back and it’s confirmed that it’s just an MCL sprain for Vea, Tampa Bay is still looking at some time without both Vea and Kancey on the defensive line. As much as the team’s secondary depth was tested on Sunday, the defensive line’s depth will now be tested even more going forward.

While Tampa Bay will look to get to 3-0 with a win over Denver next Sunday, the team will also be hoping it can get through that game without any more bad injury news. It’s been a storm of issues so far and as much as Todd Bowles’ group looks capable of weathering it, some good news would be nice as the toughest part of the schedule looms in just a few weeks.