Buccaneers C Ryan Jensen carted off field with knee injury

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen injured his left knee and was carted off the field near the end of practice on Thursday.

Neither coach Todd Bowles nor general manager Jason Licht would speculate on the severity of the injury, which occurred with players wearing shorts, shirts and helmets during a non-contact two-minute drill on the second day of training camp workouts.

“It’s unfortunate right now because there was nothing fancy going on in there,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to look at the tape and see what happened. It didn’t look like anything.”

Licht said it could be a few days before the Buccaneers learn how long Jensen might be sidelined.

Second-year pro Robert Hainsey replaced Jensen for the remainder of the drill. Another backup offensive lineman, Nick Leverett, will also take some snaps in practice while the starter is out.

“Right now, we feel terrible for Jensen. Don’t have any update on that. We won’t for some time,” Licht said. “We have some tests you have to wait a couple of days before you can get them. You have to wait for swelling and things like that to go down.”

Jensen, a ninth-year pro beginning his fifth season with Tampa Bay, was a first-time Pro Bowl selection in 2021.

He was the first player the Bucs re-signed after Tom Brady ended a brief retirement in March, with the 31-year-old center agreeing to a three-year, $39 million contract rather than relocating in free agency.

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