After being dismantled by the Tennessee Titans Friday night 30-7, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just happy to walk out of the preseason matchup with running back LeGarrette Blount’s injury kept to a minimum.

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Blount and the Buccaneers have said that the injury was to the running back’s groin (h/t Pro Football Talk), but the video replay shows that the Tampa Bay star ran straight through the middle of the tough Titans defensive line and was struck on the side of the knee.

The initial feeling of the men calling the game on television and of the NFL Network was that this could have been a very serious knee injury.

If this is indeed just a groin injury like the coaching staff has claimed, the Buccaneers need to thank their lucky stars they dodged what could have been a devastating blow

Via the Tampa Tribune, Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano discussed the injury to his running back and how they don’t feel it was a knee injury:

I think he'll be OK. I don't think it's too bad. It's not a knee. It's more up in his groin area. (The trainers) are not really sure exactly. He just got bent in a funny way. He's obviously going to be sore, but other than that I think he'll be OK.

Blount_original_crop_exact The injury - via ESPN

From the video replay and the screen shot above, it looks like Blount took a shot to the outside of his knee. Those are the kind of hits that tear the ligaments of a player’s knee and cause surgery.

If Blount truly walked away from that hit with just minor damage to his groin, Tampa Bay and the running back are extremely lucky.

Blount is coming off a terrible 2011 season that saw him play in parts of just 14 games and rush for just 781 yards and five touchdowns. Blount was hoping to move past the sophomore slump with a great third season in 2012, but the injury concerns continue to rear their ugly head.

If you’re a fantasy player, the lack of production and health concerns from Blount have to give more credibility to the hype around rookie Doug Martin; he's definitely worth a pickup.

 

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