Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defensive line will be without one of its most important pieces moving forward. The Bucs confirmed on Friday that their defensive tackle Vita Vea has a broken ankle and will miss the rest of the 2020 NFL season.
Vea got hurt in the final two minutes of Thursday Night Football’s loss to Chicago Bears after teammate Devin White fell on his ankle during a shared tackle.
“(When) you lose players like O.J. (Howard) and Vita, you can plug the next man in, but they’re not the same,” said Buccaneers’ head coach Bruce Arians. “I hate it for him because he was having such a great year.”
Vita Vea, who was Tampa’s first-round pick three years ago, was enjoying a low-key breakthrough campaign thorough the first five weeks of 2020. The 25-year-old racked up 10 tackles and 2.0 sacks, while also contributing with three tackles for loss and three QB hits. He was also a big part of the team’s success in stopping the opponents’ run game.
With Vea out, Bucs are expected to turn to veteran Rakeem Nunez-Roches. While Nunez-Roches has only three tackles this season, he has reportedly impressed the team’s coaching staff enough to hand him the starting spot.
