The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a crushing blow on just the second day of training camp when Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen was carted off the field with a knee injury.
Although it’s clear the injury is serious, an official diagnosis or timetable for Jensen’s potential return has yet to be issued by the team.
Sunday morning, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles addressed Jensen’s status again, following Tampa Bay’s 26-24 loss in Saturday night’s preseason opener to the Miami Dolphins.
“The swelling hasn’t gone down and they’re not exactly sure on the timing,” Bowles said. “He may or may not come back, if at all. They said in the next week – we should know something by this week. Because we didn’t have an answer, I didn’t give a comment. I wasn’t trying to be mean or anything – they just told me to wait until the swelling goes down because it could go one of two ways and we are just waiting for it.”
It appears Bowles and the Bucs are still hoping for the best, a scenario in which Jensen might be able to return later in the season, perhaps for the playoffs. In any event, it sounds like there should be a more formal update on the situation later this week.