The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have suffered a major injury to their wide receiving corps. During Wednesday's practice session, wide receiver Russell Gage was carted off the field after going down with a serious knee injury.
ESPN reports that Gage will miss the entire 2023 campaign due to the injury. The wideout will undergo medical tests to confirm. Pewter Report reported that Gage could not put any weight on his leg after he went down, while team reporter Scott Smith reported that Gage was in "obvious duress" while being attended to by trainers.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said after practice that their hearts go out to Gage as they await final word on what happened.
"We hear it's gonna be pretty serious, and I'll wait to hear the final results," Bowles said.
Gage signed a three-year deal with the Buccaneers last offseason, and caught 51 passes for 426 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in 13 games played in 2022. Gage was originally a sixth-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 out of LSU. In four seasons with Atlanta, he caught 193 passes for 2,065 yards and nine touchdowns.
The Buccaneers have a whopping 12 wide receivers on the roster at this point, so they are all but thin at the position. A couple of the younger players looking to make the roster are Kade Warner, Deven Thompkins, Trey Palmer, Ryan Miller, Cephus Johnson, Rakim Jarrett, Taye Barber and Kaylon Geiger.