Davin Joseph Injury Leaves Tampa Bay Buccaneers Searching for a Replacement

Davin Joseph will have season-ending surgery for a torn right patellar tendon (via Yahoo! Sports).

The two-time Pro Bowl guard was injured during the second quarter of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' preseason victory over the New England Patriots, Friday night.

Led by Joseph and fellow guard Carl Nicks, the offensive line was supposed to be a strength for the Bucs heading into 2012. But now there's concern as to whether backup center-guard Ted Larsen can adequately replace Joseph. In his first two plays Friday night, Larsen was flagged for back-to-back false-start penalties.

Hopefully that was not a sign of things to come.

Larsen is entering his third season in the NFL. He was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft. The Buccaneers claimed him off of waivers from the Patriots in September 2010.

He has started 14 games and played in 28 in his two seasons with the Bucs.

The combination of Larsen and Jeremy Trueblood on the right-hand side of the line will be the weak link to a unit that was expected to be among the best in the league.

The job may not be Larsen’s alone to fill, as Bucs' coach Greg Schiano told the Tampa Bay Times:

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“I think right now you look and Larsen has played there, so that’s one guy...There are other guys that have played there. We’re going to mess around with a few things and quickly come to a pecking order and it may be one of those deals like (Demar) Dotson and (Jeremy) Trueblood are doing right now. They’re taking turns (at right tackle). There may be two guys taking shots at it right now.”

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Messing around with protection is not what I want to hear if I’m a starting quarterback.

Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman was sacked 29 times in 2011, losing 164 yards. A young quarterback still in development needs to be protected. The last thing he needs is to see big defensive linemen and linebackers coming for his head on every down.

No matter how the void at right guard is filled, keeping Freeman upright needs to be the top priority.

Jamal Wilburg is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.

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