Bucs Gameday

Buccaneers DL Vita Vea Carted Off With Knee Injury in Loss to Washington

One of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' best defenders, defensive lineman Vita Vea suffered a potentially major injury against Washington on Sunday.

Zach Goodall

Buccaneers DL Vita Vea Carted Off With Knee Injury in Loss to Washington
Buccaneers DL Vita Vea Carted Off With Knee Injury in Loss to Washington /

The injury bug keeps on biting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Defensive tackle Vita Vea was carted off the field following a one-yard touchdown run by Antonio Gibson which sealed a victory for the Washington Football Team on Sunday. Head coach Bruce Arians shared after the game that Vea suffered an injury to his knee and had no updates to share regarding the severity of the wound.

Tampa Bay entered the Washington game, which ended in a 29-19 defeat, without a handful of defensive starters in cornerbacks Carlton Davis, Sean Murphy-Bunting and Richard Sherman. Davis and Murphy-Bunting are both on injured reserve.

Starting tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Antonio Brown also missed the game while recovering from injuries, while receiver Chris Godwin played through a foot injury and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul has played through hand and shoulder injuries for most of the year.

Vea missed the majority of the 2020 season after fracturing his ankle in Week 5, although he returned to action in the NFC Championship and Super Bowl following a miraculous recovery from the injury.

In nine appearances this season, Vea has accumulated 18 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery, two defended passes and 17 quarterback pressures (pressure stats were not available immediately after the Washington game, but the other stats are up to date). Vea has also been an important contributor within the Buccaneers' No. 2-ranked run defense.

This story will be updated as further details emerge.

Stay tuned to AllBucs for further coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and other NFL news and analysis. Follow along on social media at @SIBuccaneers on Twitter and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.

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Zach Goodall
ZACH GOODALL

Zach Goodall is the publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's AllBucs.com, serving as a beat reporter and analyst covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Zach is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's AllGators.com, covering Florida Gators football, recruiting, and occasionally other sports.  When he's not hard at work on the beat, typing away, or analyzing football film, Zach enjoys a round of golf, road trips with the speakers blaring, and trying new craft beers.