Gerald McCoy injury is a "bruised knee" says Lovie Smith

Lovie Smith today claimed that Gerald McCoy's knee injury was a bruise and not a dislocated knee cap, as Pro Football Talk reported yesterday. Looks like someone was messing with them. Good fun. Smith also noted that they'd never take chances with injured players, which is something that naturally concerned Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans after yesterday's report that McCoy had played through a significant knee injury.

Of course, a bruise can still be fairly significant and McCoy did seem slightly hindered by his injury yesterday. We'll have to wait and see how significant this injury is, and there's still a chance he'll have to be shut down for the remaining three games. But at least a bruise probably means there's no structural damage to the knee.

McCoy's having the best season of his career, despite suffering a broken hand early in the season. With 8.5 sacks he needs just one more to set a career single-season record, and he's been basically the best defensive tackle in the NFL this season by nearly any measure.