Colts Pro Bowl DT expected to miss first game due to injury in eight years

Buckner was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and played in all but one contest during his rookie season. Buckner spent the first four years of his career in the Bay Area and made his first Pro Bowl following the 2018 campaign, setting career highs in tackles for loss (17) and sacks (12.0).

He helped lead San Francisco to an appearance in Super Bowl LIV the following year, posting a career-best four fumble recoveries and earning second-team All-Pro honors.

Buckner was then traded to Indianapolis in March 2020 and had arguably the best season of his career.

The Oregon product had a career-high 26 quarterback hits during his first season with the Colts, 9.5 sacks and was a first-team All-Pro. Buckner missed Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans while on the COVID-19 list (his last missed game) but then had a huge finish to the year and was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for December.

He made his second Pro Bowl in the 2021 season, was productive again in 2022 and earned his third Pro Bowl honor in 2023.

Buckner finished the 2023 campaign with a team-high 21 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss (second), 8.0 sacks (tied for third) and a career-best seven passes defensed (tied for second).

He signed a two-year, $46M contract extension with Indianapolis in April and had a game-high 1.5 sacks in the Colts' Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans, as well as six tackles and two quarterback hits. Buckner had just one tackle during the team's 16-10 defeat against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 and was limited to 10 defensive snaps before departing in the third quarter.

The ninth-year pro was questionable going into the contest against Green Bay due to a back ailment. According to Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star, it's the same issue Buckner dealt with last October. Erickson added that Buckner has fought through "a dislocated MCP joint in his right hand, a torn UCL in his left elbow, a strained adductor, a badly sprained ankle and a handful of other injuries in his five seasons in Indianapolis."

If it's a matter of pain tolerance, Buckner will possibly try to battle through his latest problem, but early indications are that the veteran may miss his first game due to injury since his rookie year.