Bucs Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen is one of the toughest players on the team. The nine-year veteran has played through some serious injuries during his four seasons in Tampa Bay and hasn’t missed a game.

That’s why when Jensen had to be carted off the field near the end of Thursday’s practice you could hear a pin drop on the field. It could be an injury that keeps Jensen out of action for weeks – or longer.

It looked bad when it happened.

Left guard Aaron Stinnie blocked rookie defensive tackle Logan Hall into Jensen’s left knee as he was engaged with nose tackle Vita Vea.

“All I know is that he went down right now with a knee,” Bowles said after practice. “We’ll see when we go inside going forward, go from there.”

The team’s mood sank for the final remaining moments as Jensen made his way to the training room. Second-year lineman Robert Hainsey stepped in at center for the rest of practice.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht addressed Jensen’s injury and how somber the mood got when it happened.

“That usually happens when you have a player like Ryan who is obviously a very good player. But also just a great person and leader,” Licht said. “It’s tough and it’s things like that about him that define him. When a player like that gets hurt, and he’s played through several injuries in his career without missing any time, it usually deflates everybody. So we’ll wait to find out what it is and like I said we’re hoping for the best.”

Injury Doesn’t Look Good, Severity May Not Be Known For Days

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Licht said the team would likely have to wait a few days before knowing the full extent of the injury.

“Right now I feel terrible for [Ryan] Jensen,” Licht said. “Don’t have any update on that, we won’t for some time, we have tests, some tests you have to wait for a couple days before you can get him to that point for swelling and things like that to go down. So I don’t have any update on that other than that it was a knee injury and we’re hoping for the best but we’ll have updates on that later.”

How long Jensen is out – and Hainsey is in the starting lineup – remains to be seen. Losing the team’s Pro Bowl center would be a huge blow, especially as Tampa Bay looks to incorporate two new starting guards.

“I don’t really know what happened – I didn’t see it,” Wirfs said. “You know it sucks when a guy goes down. You know Jensen is a tough cookie. We will go in there and see him in the trainer’s room after this. But I wish him the best and we will see.”

Hainsey Takes Over At Center – For Now

Bucs OL coach Harold Goodwin and OL Robert Hainsey – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs have been pleased with Hainsey’s development over the past year and a half, but he’s still a very inexperienced player. Hainsey was the Bucs’ third-round pick in 2021. He made the transition from right tackle to center last year and served as Jensen’s backup.

“We took Robert in the third round for a reason because we saw a lot of potential in him,” Licht said. “We saw potential in him as a center first, potentially playing guard, he played tackle at Notre Dame as well. We’ve liked everything – the impression of Robert since we’ve drafted him, since the offseason last year. And we have faith in him. And we also have a lot of faith in Nick Leverett playing center as well. So those two will get in there and compete for the time being until we find out more about Jensen.”

Tampa Bay is not expected to pursue a free agent veteran like J.C. Tretter. The Bucs want to see how Hainsey fares as the next man up first. The team likes how Hainsey has progressed behind the scenes and he’ll get his opportunity in the meantime. Nicke Leverett will serve as the backup center.

“Oh my God, Bob is so smart,” Wirfs said. “I think he is one of my best buds on the team. You we hang out quite a bit. He was here for half the off-season and then he was in Arizona training with A.Q. Shipley. He has put in a lot of work. He is trying to be the best that he can be. Kid loves ball. I’m excited to see how he does – competition for left guard as well.”