The Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting center, Ryan Jensen, was carted off the field with a left knee injury during Thursday’s training camp practice. Coach Todd Bowles said that all he knows is that Jensen went down with a knee injury and that they will have to wait and see what the diagnosis is. General Manager Jason Licht said that it might be a few days before they know the extent of the injury because of swelling. This happened during a team period and resulted in the whole team gathering around Jensen, who has been a fixture on the Bucs’ offensive line for five seasons. The mood immediately turned somber.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hoping for the best after center Ryan Jensen suffered an injury. Jensen is a very good player, but is also a great person and leader. He has played through several injuries in his career without missing any time. This deflates everybody on the team. Jensen agreed to a three-year deal with the Buccaneers in March. He had a 93.1% pass block win rate from the center position protecting Tom Brady the past two years.
Jensen signed with the Buccaneers in 2018, moving from guard to center. He quickly emerged as a tone-setter, playing the most snaps of any offensive lineman since 2018. Jensen had issues with aggression early on, but has improved in that department. In his first season in Tampa, he had 11 penalties, which was fourth most in the league among offensive linemen. That number dropped to seven over the past two seasons.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive line is one of the most durable in the NFL. Last year, they lost right guard Alex Cappa to the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency and left guard Ali Marpet to retirement, but they still managed to have a very successful season. This year, they have seen even more turnover, with Jensen suffering an ankle sprain during their wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles last year. He played through it, not missing a single snap. Jensen also attempted to play through the Bucs’ divisional playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams last year, but he was ultimately unable to do so. Jensen has appeared in 100 games with 90 starts in eight seasons and is definitely a player that the Bucs can count on.
This is a huge blow to the team, as they will now have to rely on backup center Joe Hawley. Hawley is a good player, but he is not on the same level as Jensen. The Buccaneers will need to regroup and figure out how to win without their star center. This will be a difficult task, but one that they must overcome.