PITTSBURGH — Bucs protective tackle Vita Vea gained’t want knee surgical procedure; however, he may want to pass over 3 to 4 weeks of the ordinary season for the second year in a row.
Vea had any other MRI Friday that found out he has an injury to his left collateral cruciate ligament. While he’s now not anticipated to play inside the preseason, the Bucs haven’t ruled him out for the normal-season opener in opposition to the 49ers on Sept. Eight.
A much more likely state of affairs is that he returns inside the first month, just like he did a yr in the past whilst he sustained calf damage on a primary day in pads at some point of training camp.
Vea turned into injured during a one-on-one blocking drill with shield Alex Cappa on Tuesday. He grabbed his left knee but managed to stroll off the sector underneath his very own electricity.
While the Bucs breathed a sigh of alleviation that damage wasn’t season-finishing, it delays their plan to pair him at a protective address with veteran Ndamukong Suh.
The Bucs already are without doors linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul, who hasn’t lower back from an offseason neck harm sustained in an automobile accident. Inside linebacker Lavonte David had arthroscopic surgical treatment on Sunday to restore a meniscus tear in his left knee and could no longer play at the least during the preseason. Safety Justin Evans is unable to carry out the list with foot and toe accidents.
The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Vea is expected to go back inside the first 4 weeks of the everyday season.
But lacking all the preseason and likely numerous more weeks received’t be desirable for the Bucs or Vea. He commenced slowly after getting back from his calf injury, and conditioning can be a problem without sports reps.
Short passes and an overlooked bomb show persistence for Winston
The large emphasis for Jameis Winston this season is on decision-making, and he exercised patience in the course of the Bucs’ touchdown drive to start Friday night time’s 30-28 preseason loss in Pittsburgh.
Winston went 4-of-5 for 29 yards, including a 9-backyard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin on the primary pressure. Willing to take what the protection gave him, Winston did not pass over eleven yards at the pressure.
His handiest omit became a deep shot too long for Breshad Perriman. Winston also ran 10 yards for a first down.
For a quarterback who is attempting to do a higher task shielding the soccer, it became a stable development sign.
Rojo’s night became vibrant.
Friday night changed into an awesome beginning for running back Ronald Jones, trying to redeem himself for a disastrous rookie season.
The first surprise becomes that Jones returned the hole kickoff. The most effective added it returned 19 yards from the purpose line. However, making use of that velocity on special groups is a thrilling prospect.
Jones entered the game on offense about halfway through the first force and at once stuck a display bypass from Winston for 5 yards. He accompanied that with an interior run for 7 yards, then located a massive hole on the right facet for six yards.
First things first
Outside linebacker Carl Nassib had the primary sack of the preseason for the Bucs, a sixteen-yarder of Joshua Dobbs wherein the Steelers have been known as for a keeping penalty that was declined. … Cairo Santos started the game and made the first kick of the preseason, an extra factor after Godwin’s TD. Rookie Matt Gay ended the first 1/2 with a fifty-five-backyard subject goal to get the Bucs within 13-10. … M.J. Stewart yielded the first TD bypass, an eight-yarder to James Washington from Mason Rudolph with 1: fifty-six closing inside the first half.
