Buccaneers' Sean Murphy-Bunting Ruled Out vs. Cowboys with Elbow Injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary lost one of its key playmakers in the first half of Thursday's season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

According to James Palmer of NFL Network, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting was ruled out for the remainder of the game because of an elbow injury he suffered during a play that resulted in a touchdown for CeeDee Lamb.

Murphy-Bunting was heavily involved before the injury.

Jenna Laine of ESPN noted he was the closest defender to the target on six of Dak Prescott's 12 passes prior to exiting.

Tampa Bay drafted the Central Michigan product in the second round in 2019, and he appeared in all 16 games in each of his first two seasons. He finished 2020 with 70 tackles, three passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

The cornerback tallied six tackles and a pass defended in the Super Bowl LV win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Look for Jamel Dean to potentially see more playing time while Murphy-Bunting is sidelined.