The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been lucky on the injury front, and things haven’t gotten better during the game against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.
The Bucs lost center Joe Hawley early in the second quarter to a knee injury, and he was ruled out for the game after the half. He was shown with icepacks on his knee, sitting on the bench. Evan Smith came in for Hawley, and shouldn’t represent a huge downgrade — Smith was pretty close to winning the starting job in preseason.
Making matters worse, the Bucs also lost Kwon Alexander to a shoulder injury. He was said to be probable to return, but has yet to take the field. At least Alexander’s injury shouldn’t linger beyond this game.
The team also lost backup pass-rusher Howard Jones to a knee injury. Jones was ruled out very quickly, which may indicate his knee injury is fairly serious.