The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went through their first and only joint practice with the New York Jets on Wednesday. Unfortunately, it appears that one of the team's starting wide receivers suffered a serious injury during the session.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Buccaneers' starting wide receiver Russell Gage is expected to miss the entirety of the 2023 season after going down with a knee injury. Gage suffered a non-contact injury while backpedaling early on in the practice. He was carted off the field a short time later in what was quite an emotional scene.
This is a huge blow to Tampa Bay's offense as Gage was in line to play a big role with the wide receivers alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The team doesn't have a ton of proven experience in the room outside of the trio, relying on a group of rookies and young prospects to emerge throughout the preseason.
Gage began training camp in a limited fashion but was slowly working himself back to a full participant in practice. This is the worst possible option for the veteran wide receiver who has been oft-injured since signing with the Buccaneers last year.
The former LSU star spent five weeks on Injured Reserve in 2022. He missed the second half of Tampa Bay's loss to Atlanta in the regular season finale prior to being carted off with a neck/injury concussion in the defeat in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs. Gage ended up being hospitalized for a short time period due to the collision.
Tampa Bay will turn to a room of unproven wide receivers such as Deven Thompkins, Trey Palmer, Rakim Jarrett, and Kaylon Geiger to step up following Gage's injury. It's possible the team takes a look at available free agents to fill the gap.
Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82
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