Teammates Hushed On Smith’s Injury
August 21st, 2018
Little information.
It sure seems that the Bucs quickly got to Donovan Smith’s teammates to make sure they did not publicly discuss the left tackle’s injury.
After Bucs coach Dirk Koetter spoke to the local pen and mic club as usual after practice, Joe sprinted to try to find out what happened from various Bucs players.
No one was talking. Joe spoke with two players who claimed they saw what happened but would not offer up any details.
Joe did get two players to talk on the record, but neither would explain how Smith was injured or what exactly the injury may be.
When Joe asked Evan Smith what took place, Smith admitted he was watching from the sidelines as the play developed. When Joe asked what happened, Smith replied, “Football happened.”
When Joe spoke with Mike Evans, the star Bucs receiver, Evans said he saw the injury, too. But that’s all Evans would say.
“I can’t discuss injuries, you know that,” said Evans as he signed autographs, sweat dripping off his chin.”
Donovan Smith was injured on a running play, Bucs coach Dirk Koetter confirmed. Koetter added that Smith was on the backside of the running play at the time. Koetter confessed he did not actually see the injury take place.
Both Evan Smith and Evans admitted this could be a monster blow to the team if Donovan Smith misses any degree of time.
“Oh, he is huge,” Evans said of Smith’s importance to the offense. “He is our starting left tackle. That is one of the most important positions in football. I hope it is not too serious.”
“It is always important to have your starting left tackle, man,” Smith said. “Those guys are the lynchpin to your protection, to protect your quarterback’s backside. His consistency of how many games he has played [is tremendous].
“As long as he is here for Week 1, that’s all that matters.”
Joe will have any update the moment he learns any new details of Smith’s injury.
Here’s more video of Donovan Smith walking off with quite a bit of help from the training staff… pic.twitter.com/JfSmyQw3sf
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) August 21, 2018
August 21st, 2018 at 12:28 pm
All serious Bucs fans will promptly go home and kick their dog.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:28 pm
At least he wasn’t carted off the field.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:29 pm
I tried kicking the dog the last two seasons; it did no good. We should all just go home and cower in the corner.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Cannon Says:
August 21st, 2018 at 12:28 pm
At least he wasn’t carted off the field.
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Wentz walked off the field when he tore his ACL. Played the next snap, actually….He didn’t have a noticeable limp. Usually, when a player gets rolled up it is not good news. But in this case…hope it was just a helmet bruise…sprain. Just have to cross our fingers. He was at least able to put weight on it and walk off the field, like you said. Marpet and Evans….hopefully they check out OK as well, and all three are ready for opening day.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:35 pm
This team is garbage. Doesn’t matter if he plays or not
August 21st, 2018 at 12:36 pm
in my opinon the way he is walking is a good sign. he putting a lot of weight on it, hopefully nothing to serious. I am a huge supporter of D. Smith and think people are too hard on him sometimes and if he misses any time some might learn you don’t know what you got till its gone. good health to you bro smith!
August 21st, 2018 at 12:38 pm
There are no serviceable free agent left tackles available. They are all on rosters. The fools that think the Bucs can easily overcome this loss are going to have a miserable rest of the year.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:40 pm
These guys are dropping like fish in the Florida red tide. Might be time for a very big trade Jason and maybe a few more smaller ones.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:41 pm
Smitty is gonna be fine. I’m worried about my man Vita though. He’s not gonna be in shape for game one if he does not return soon.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:45 pm
If D Smith is out Fitzpatrick will be offered up as a sacrifice to the football gods.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:50 pm
Durango 95
“If D Smith is out Fitzpatrick will be offered up as a sacrifice to the football gods.”
Think if Ali’s out also. Ryan Griffin will be first string the first quarter of game one. But, keep the faith. Get well soon guys.
August 21st, 2018 at 12:54 pm
if smith is out were screwed no way around it. all the potential the line has showed this preseason goes out the window. would mean we have question marks at at least 2 positions and maybe 3 depending on how dotson comes back from his surgery . terrible day overall for the bucs . season may have just been ruined in 1 practice without the starting qb even getting hurt .
August 21st, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Doesn’t matter. 4-12 anyways.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Anybody saying, “At least he wasn’t carted off the field,” or blaming trainers for Smith getting rolled up on really has no idea… many players walk or even jog off the field with torn ACLs not knowing the severity of the injury. Trainers CAN help prevent soft tissue injuries but are pretty much powerless when trying to prevent joint injuries from trauma.
That being said, there is a glimmer of hope in what Evan Smith said. Presumably Smith was close enough to the action to have a good idea of what transpired between Smith and the trainers. He may have also heard other players give their opinions so when he said, “As long as he is here for Week 1, that’s all that matters.” that gives me hope that it might not be super serious.
“As long as he is here for Week 1, that’s all that matters.” Think about that. Evan Smith has seen more than his fair share of serious knee injuries. If he’s thinking the Donovan could be back for week one, then that might give us a clue as to the severity of the injury. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking…
August 21st, 2018 at 1:07 pm
Luke Joeckel still out there?
August 21st, 2018 at 1:15 pm
What’s up with all the doom and gloom….lol…
Where’s all the” totally confident” guys and gals?….lol….
Were you folks “totally confident” in dirk with a full clip, injury free roster for the whole year?….lol…if so, yall don’t know football….every team has bumps and bruises entering week1….ITS FOOTBALL!!!!
Question is, how will dirk adjust if his starting LT is lost for the season?….can’t use that outdated 4vert scheme that has 5 &7 step drops with a back-up LT….
Dirk is an “offensive guru”….surely he can overcome adversity….
Totally confident right folks?….lol….remember, no excuses for the “guru”
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
August 21st, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Just in, Possible ACL Tear is Bucs Left Tackle Donovan Smith. If true, Out for the 2018 NFL Regular Season. The Buccaneers do to injuries, are now thin at DB, and OT. Go to NFL.com, ESPN, or THE NFL Network for more updates. Thanks, David Corcoran, Winter Park, Florida.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:17 pm
With the first pick in the 2019 NFL draft new bucs GM Ronde Barber selects Nick Bosa out of Ohio State
August 21st, 2018 at 1:17 pm
Just read on PR that Justin Evans was sitting in the front seat of the cart and not laying with his leg elevated and he was getting in and out on his own. Very encouraging.
Is it true that Ali was carted off also???
August 21st, 2018 at 1:19 pm
Leonard Wester…you’re up, dude.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:20 pm
Maybe cross train Vita Vea at LT.
He’s got the girth.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:21 pm
You people are so damn negative. Man why the hell do you even call yourselves fans. All this 4-12 and it doesn’t matter they will suck anyways. Why do you even bother if that is how you feel. Show some damn hope anything can happen in any game. EVERY team has injuries it happens it sucks move on. Do I think the Bucs are going all the way this year ? Not really, but anything is possible no one knows what will happen on any given Sunday.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:22 pm
Rub some dirt on it!! Bqck to work!!
August 21st, 2018 at 1:26 pm
I hope Evan Smith had a MRI in his pocket otherwise neither he or the trainers know for sure at this point. Makes sense though with management not wanting players to tell press any premature optimistic assumptions. This really makes you realize how critical DSmith is to this team.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:28 pm
SOEbuc Says:
August 21st, 2018 at 1:17 pm
Just read on PR that Justin Evans was sitting in the front seat of the cart and not laying with his leg elevated and he was getting in and out on his own. Very encouraging.
Is it true that Ali was carted off also???
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I figured Evans was OK…..Sometimes they just use carts to get players to and from practice quickly as a courtesy. It wasn’t like Smith’s injury where everyone was standing around checking to see if he was OK. Evans was taken off so fast that no one knew…and thought because he was on a cart it had to be serious when it did not mean that necessarily. I just saw that Marpet left practice due to injury…but didnt hear that it was serious (had to be helped off, etc.).
August 21st, 2018 at 1:30 pm
We can hope these are all nicks and dings for the vets and the Bucs are just taking precaution. Wouldn’t sound so crazy getting so close to week one. I think the people saying Vea is them taking precaution because they want him 100% week one is total BS. He hasn’t practiced once.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:32 pm
We can hope these are all nicks and dings for the vets and the Bucs are just taking precaution. Wouldn’t sound so crazy getting so close to week one. I think the people saying Vea is them taking precaution because they want him 100% week one is total BS. He hasn’t practiced once.
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It’s not BS. He’s out of the boot and just started running. He will be cleared to practice in the next week or so I’d imagine and be ready for the opener. There is no rush to get him back during the preseason. None….He’ll be eased into the rotation.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:34 pm
I keep hearing it is his left knee, but new video shows him limping and seems to be favoring his right knee.
It also looks taped so I don’t know if that was done before or after.
I’m not sure, but he was agonizing as he put weight on it.
Hoping for the best!!
August 21st, 2018 at 1:35 pm
On a positive note, as he walked off the field, his movement improved. Hopefully it is something very minor. A few days or rest. I hope.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:36 pm
Really, you guys didn’t expect any big injuries?
Not very realistic if you didn’t. It happens to every team every year.
You doom and gloomers are some sissy Mother Fluckers.
Go Bucs!
August 21st, 2018 at 1:43 pm
D-Rome Says
“There are no serviceable free agent left tackles available. They are all on rosters. The fools that think the Bucs can easily overcome this loss are going to have a miserable rest of the year.”
SOEbuc Says
“These guys are dropping like fish in the Florida red tide. Might be time for a very big trade Jason and maybe a few more smaller ones.”
I think it is a bit too soon to panic or exagerate. Let’s see what the problem is
August 21st, 2018 at 2:01 pm
@Lamarcus … “This team is garbage. Doesn’t matter if he plays or not.” Comments like that Lamarcus always get me shaking my head. Why do you bother even reading JBF or other Bucs’ news? More importantly, why do you bother commenting if as you say it apparently doesn’t matter & you consider the team to be “garbage”? Heck even 813bucboi is more chipper than you are. Perk up … life’s short, and then you die.
I thought we started off training camp good this year, but then the injury bug attacked with a vengeance it seems. Thus far it sounds like the only guys who’ve been put on IR are DaVonte Lambert & Cole Gardner. Hopefully most of the rest are available for New Orleans. Right now what’s especially concerning is the OLine & the Secondary … LOTS of injuries in both position groups. Licht needs to be scouring the boards to see if there’s any veteran help out there.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:02 pm
I hear Richie Incognito will be available after he gets out of jail. lol
August 21st, 2018 at 2:08 pm
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!! Que the excuses from #KluelessKoetter.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:11 pm
He was overrated anyway. Look at the bright side, the Bucs save money on not having to resign him now. I know this will hurt the feelings of some of the left liberals on this site but it’s a business first, sport second, care for the players is a distant third. Toughen up butter cup.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:13 pm
The reason ppl are negative because of the gawd awful product that has been on the field the past decade, what in this offseason has given you hope? Passing on the top RBs in the draft, riding in an uber? The offense looking exactly the same? VH3 still not able to cover and oh ya the new K missing extra points
August 21st, 2018 at 2:14 pm
NFL.com even had Vernon’s return listed over this guys “injury” on their site, when talking about Bucs injuries.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:17 pm
Funny that Pewter Report said Evans was carted off the field and now have updated the picture to show him riding in the front like they were taking him to the bathroom.
Probably had GAS!!
August 21st, 2018 at 2:18 pm
Trade JW for a left tackle NOW since he looked so good against 2nd and third team players last week. Sack up Jason….DO IT
August 21st, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Billy_43 Says:
August 21st, 2018 at 2:17 pm
Funny that Pewter Report said Evans was carted off the field and now have updated the picture to show him riding in the front like they were taking him to the bathroom.
Probably had GAS!!
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Pooter report?
August 21st, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Bail out Richie Incognito and get him on the team. A beast.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:24 pm
Yeah I can’t believe I have been pronouncing it wrong all these years.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:26 pm
And now looking at your screen name I will never stand behind you!!!
August 21st, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Oh, Billy.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Billy_43, your post nearly had me laughing out loud in the office.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:49 pm
ok so what I got out of this
guy gets hurt walks off field -out for season
guy gets hurt carted off few minutes ahh he’s fine
guy shows up on cart rushing to the bathroom
August 21st, 2018 at 3:05 pm
Rolled ankle. He’ll be fine.
August 21st, 2018 at 3:16 pm
Donovan made a tweet on twitter about ME13’s b-day for what it is worth.
August 21st, 2018 at 3:31 pm
DING!!DING!!DING!!!
@BUDDY for the win!!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
August 21st, 2018 at 3:46 pm
trade for Donald Penn, heard he is not happy with the raiders. He can fill right in. maybe trade D Jax for him, that way godwin can start opposite of evans
August 21st, 2018 at 3:51 pm
Defense rules
Shaking your head??? It’s the truth. Until this team proves it I’ll be more positive. I don’t need fillers to tell a player is doing good or gonna be a break out star and then watch the preseason and it’s the same ol Bucs. Get real. I want the truth. You thought we starting TC strong???? Newsflash we came off one of our worse season ever Stop dreaming and acting like we are the Pat’s. We are gonna lose again
August 21st, 2018 at 4:36 pm
Because it happens so frequently to OL…getting a knee rolled up…many OL wear knee braces even when healthy.
I’ve read of coaches in college and the NFL who simply demand their OL all wear knee braces for protection.
Does anybody here know if the Buc’s OL wear braces for prevention?
Perhaps Donovan had knee braces and the injury will not be as serious as we orginally fear.
@Lamarcus I agree with D.R. You don’t have to be a cheerleader or blind to be a Bucs fan but blanket statements about a team sucking based entirely on your opinion means that…no…it’s you who suck as a poster…you offer no insight just a hyperbolic OPINION.
August 21st, 2018 at 4:48 pm
@lamarcus
killin em softly!!!!!!….lol….luv it!!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
August 21st, 2018 at 6:36 pm
Good God, if Donovan Smith goes down for even part of this season, we may be in serious trouble.
Starting Left Tackles do not exactly grow on trees in the NFL.
August 21st, 2018 at 7:15 pm
YES !
According to this just posted article, Donovan Smith is gonna be OK !!!
Read and rejoice https://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/psu-football/article217073380.html