Report: Buccaneers to be without veteran safety for remainder of preseason

Tampa Bay takes a hit in the secondary.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already had numerous players go down this preseason. That's just the life of playing and coaching professional football. Regardless, it's less than ideal to get banged up this early, particularly with injuries to players who project to play an important role on the team in 2022.

READ MORE: Russell Gage Leaves Bucs Practice with Injury

Running back Giovani Bernard, linebacker Cam Gill, and linebacker Grant Stuard were all injured during the preseason-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins. Gill had surgery this week to repair a Lisfranc injury. Running back Kenjon Barner was also recently placed on Injured Reserve. 

On Wednesday, veteran safety Keanu Neal exited joint practice with the Tennessee Titans due to an arm injury. According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, the Buccaneers are expected to be without Neal for the remainder of the preseason. There's hope he'll be ready to go by week one.

Bucs DB Keanu Neal suffered an injury in the joint practice with the Titans Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the preseason. The team hopes he return for Week 1 at Dallas.

— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 17, 2022

This is unfortunate news after Neal sat out the first preseason game last weekend. It means he won't get any live reps with the defense in an actual game until the regular season. Regardless, Neal is entering his seventh year at the professional level and it shouldn't take long for him to shake off the rust.

The Florida native signed a one-year deal with the Buccaneers in April. Despite spending time at outside linebacker in Dallas, Neal is expected to return to the defensive backfield in Tampa to provide depth at safety.

Neal spent five seasons in Atlanta after being selected by the Falcons in the first round back in 2016. He started 30 games during his first two years with the franchise, totaling 222 tackles, six tackles for loss, eight forced fumbles, 14 pass deflections, and an interception. Neal suffered an ACL tear in 2018 and an Achilles tear in 2019 that prematurely ended his season.

The former Florida Gators star returned to form to record 100 total tackles in 2020. Despite transitioning to a new position and only starting five games, Neal still racked up 72 tackles and four tackles for loss last year.

READ MORE: Scare at Center Position Caps Off Day 1 of Joint Practices

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