Buccaneers place George Johnson on injured reserve

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed defensive end George Johnson on injured reserve, the team announced today. The defensive end had to be helped off the field yesterday, and has apparently suffered a serious enough injury to rule him out for the season.

The Bucs traded for Johnson last year, giving him a three-year $7 million contract to boost their pass rush. So far, Johnson has posted 0 sacks and very few pressures. He was coming off a six-sack season for the Detroit Lions in limited time, but it seems that was a fluke, rather than a sign of improved play. Johnson was originally a Buccaneer, too, playing nine games for them in 2011 and 2012, but not quite impressing.

Johnson was one of many, many attempts by the Bucs to boost their pass rush. All of those attempts failed, over many years. Johnson wasn’t expected to play a big role on this year’s defense, given his non-existent production last year, and the team signing Robert Ayers and drafting Noah Spence. The Bucs did sign defensive end Martin Ifedi to replace Johnson, who spent part of last year on the team’s practice squad. He was waived earlier this year.