Another key piece to the Bucs defensive front underwent surgery this offseason. This time it was defensive lineman Vita Vea.

Vea had surgery on his hand a couple weeks ago after suffering an undisclosed hand injury, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The procedure is considered minor and Vea won’t have any restrictions by the time the regular season comes around, but he is expected to miss time at the beginning of Bucs’ training camp on July 28th.

This news comes off the heels of Vea’s fellow teammate Jason Pierre-Paul having arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday. Pierre-Paul will be ready for training camp.

Going into his third NFL season, Vea is no stranger to missing some time early on. He suffered a calf injury as a rookie which put him in a boot on the sidelines and held him out for all of training camp and the first three games of the season.

In Vea’s second year, a sprained LCL in early August kept him away for the rest of camp, but he did return for Week 1 of the regular season.

Vea, who has 63 tackles and 5.5 sacks in his career, is a rising star on the Bucs defensive line and is expected to have another big year this season.

It was important for the Bucs this offseason to re-sign Ndamukong Suh so both Suh and Vea could continue where they left off as the best run stopping duo in the league. If Vea and the rest of the defensive line can stay healthy, the Bucs’ defensive line will be difficult to stop on the field.