The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed center Ryan Jensen (knee) on season-ending injured reserve Saturday, and it's likely that his career is also over.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht made the announcement, saying that Jensen suffers from complications from the ACL tear he sustained in training camp in 2022. The injury kept him sidelined for the entire regular season, though he returned for the team's NFC wild-card game against the Dallas Cowboys.
"We're gonna be putting him on IR. He's gonna be done for the year," Licht said on the broadcast of the Bucs' preseason game Saturday night against Baltimore. "The selflessness, the toughness, the leadership he has -- we talked a couple weeks ago about this. It was an emotional moment for me, for [coach] Todd [Bowles] when we met with him, I know for everybody involved. But it's for the best for him."
Jensen, 32, admitted last month that he probably shouldn't have played in the wild-card game versus the Dallas Cowboys in January. That said, coming back from the injury to compete in the playoffs was very important to him.
Jensen has started all 65 regular-season games and seven postseason contests since signing with Tampa Bay prior to the 2018 season. The 2021 Pro Bowl selection has played 100 games (90 starts) for the Bucs and Baltimore Ravens (2014-17), who drafted him in the sixth round in 2013.
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