Starting Center of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ryan Jensen suffers Knee Injury

Posted by DavidGreen
Aug 01, 2022

Introduction

On Thursday, July 28th, 2022 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting center on their 1st - string offensive line, Ryan Jensen, was carted off of the training camp practice field with an injury to his left knee. The injury appeared to be fairly serious as he was unable to get himself off of the practice field on his own accord as he was driven into their medical training facilities on a cart.

"All I know is he went down right now with a knee," the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Todd Bowles, explained. "We'll see when we go inside going forward and go from there."

Diagnosing Jensen’s Left Knee Injury

Jensen will now have to undergo several tests most likely including an MRI scan which should reveal the type of injury as well as to figure out the severity of the injury. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager, Jason Licht, explained to the sports media outlets that their organization might not have a true diagnosis for several days due to the amount of swelling to his left knee.

The Injury

The injury occurred during a team period, and it caused the entire football team gathering around Jensen, who has been a fixture on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line for the entirety of 5 - NFL seasons, and the atmosphere of the training camp practice immediately turned sad and depressing very quickly.

"That usually happens when you have a player like right who is obviously a very good player but also just a great person and a leader, and his toughness -- things like that, about him, that define him," the Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht expressed. "When a player like that gets hurt and he's played through several injuries in his career, without missing any time, it deflates everybody. We'll wait to find out what it is and we're hoping for the best."

The now 31 - year - old center in Jensen agreed to terms and signed a 3 - year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in March. Ryan has only given up 2 - sacks in both the 2021 - 2022 NFL regular season and the postseason combined while he recorded a 93.1 % pass block win rate from the very important position of center during the NFL regular season and the NFL playoffs combined over the course of the last 2 - years of pass protecting for the all – time great NFL quarterback in Tom Brady.

Ryan initially signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs as a free agent back in 2018, and that was when he moved over from playing the position of guard to a starting center as the team wanted to bring more attitude and toughness to their offensive line. Ryan instantaneously surfaced as a major tone - setter as well as a true leader on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive unit. Jensen’s 4,518 - snaps at the position of center are the most of any offensive lineman in the National Football League since back in 2018.

Aggressive Tendencies in the Past

Back in the day, Ryan was well-known for having serious issues channeling his aggression and keeping himself composed, and at times his temperament would eventually lead to very costly penalties that was detrimental to his football team, but he has improved on that front enormously over the past couple of years. In his first season in Tampa Bay playing for the Buccaneers all 11 of his penalties had him tied for the 4th most in the National Football League amongst all of the offensive linemen of the NFL. That number dropped to 7 - penalties over the last 2 - seasons combined.

Ryan happened to suffer a sprained ankle during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 to 15 wild - card round win over the Philadelphia Eagles last season, but he ultimately was able to play through it by not missing a single snap for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also attempted to play through the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 to 27 NFL divisional - round playoff defeat to the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line is one of the toughest as well as one of the most durable offensive lines in the National Football League these days with Brady who has unfortunately seen a lot of turn - over this year to his protecting teammates of his in front of him on the field as they lost their starting right guard, Alex Cappa, to the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL’s free agency period as well as their starting left guard, Ali Marpet, who decided to retire from playing professional football in the National Football League.

Jensen was originally drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 6th - round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Ryan has appeared in 100 - games with 90 - starts over the course of his 8 – seasons playing football in the National Football League.