The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost an important piece of their defense in Sunday's impressive 20-16 win over the Detroit Lions as Vita Vea exited early with a knee injury.
Head coach Todd Bowles clarified Vea is dealing with a Grade 2 MCL sprain and is considered day-to-day, as reported by Jeremy Fowler. Not a terrible update but also not ideal. Vea will likely miss some time. The defensive tackle had one pass defensed in Week 2 and compiled three tackles in the season opener.
While Vea's absence isn't great, the Buccaneers defense has been thriving. Despite injuries to three starters and numerous young players on the field Sunday, they only allowed 16 points to a Lions team that is seen as a Super Bowl contender. Impressive, to say the least. The defense came up with some big stops late in the game, including a touchdown-saving tackle on Jahmyr Gibbs after a 23-yard run from Jordan Whitehead.
“They only had that one touchdown late in the game,” Whitehead said, referring to a 1-yard score by running back David Montgomery in the third quarter, per ESPN. “They had three field goals, so we stopped 'em pretty good. We had that confidence that they're not gonna get into the end zone. Once you get down there, it gets tough down there.”
This was a revenge game for the Bucs, who lost in the playoffs to the Lions a year ago:
“We had [this game] circled. … We seen it. Y'all seen how it ended last year,” outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka said. “We had it on our mind basically all offseason — these are the types of games you have to win.
“You gotta throw your last couple punches … and just leave it all out on the field.”
Hopefully, Vita Vea will be out there next weekend when the Buccaneers face the Denver Broncos.
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