Bucs HC Todd Bowles Addresses Injury to Promising Linebacker

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach gives an update on injured starting linebacker SirVocea Dennis ahead of the matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.

Nov 19, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker SirVocea Dennis (8) before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been banged up pretty heavily to begin the season. Still, it luckily hasn't affected them too much as they have gotten off to a terrific 3-1 start after demolishing the Philadelphia Eagles last week.

The Bucs are expecting to get some of their injured players like Luke Goedeke, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Calijah Kancey back any day now, but they also suffered one significant injury in their latest win when linebacker SirVocea Dennis went down with a shoulder injury in the first half of the Eagles game.

Dennis was eventually ruled out of the contest, and when speaking with the media following Monday's practice as they gear up to face the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football, head coach Todd Bowles relayed that they believe Dennis' injury is somewhat serious.

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"SirVocea [Dennis] got pretty nicked up with his shoulder. I think he hurt it pretty bad. We're going to see how bad," said Bowles.

Losing a linebacker isn't great news for the Bucs as they are already dealing with a slew of injuries, but it appears that Dennis likely will miss this game and potentially even more after getting the results on the true nature of the injury.

Bowles was then asked if there was a plan in place for if Dennis were to miss extended time and he was very coy in not giving a direct answer as he and his staff likely will have a few options available to them.

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"We're mulling that over right now. There's a bunch of different directions we could go. We'll see which one fits us for the game."

Dennis was at practice on Tuesday without a sling of brace on his shoulder or arm, but as it was a walkthrough, it was difficult to gauge his level of participation, if any.

The Bucs should get some of their pieces back this week on the defensive side of the ball to help carry the load left by Dennis, but the team will also rely on depth like J.J. Russell to help fill the void. Tampa Bay has done a bang-up job with their "next man up" mentality and that looks to be the case once again as they head towards an important divisional game against the Falcons.

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