Bucs' Ryan Jensen Placed on Season-ending IR with Knee Injury; Career in Jeopardy

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are placing center Ryan Jensen on injured reserve, ending his season and potentially his NFL career, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Jensen missed the entirety of the 2022 regular season after suffering a knee injury during a collision in training camp.

Jensen suffered a combined "six major injuries" to his knee just over one year ago, including tears to his ACL, PCL, MCL and meniscus, as well as fractures to his tibial head and knee cartilage, The Athletic's Dan Pompei reported in February.

The center turned down surgery and returned eight months ahead of his scheduled recovery timeline to play 80 snaps during the Buccaneers' January 16 wild-card loss to the Dallas Cowboys, a game Jensen later said he "probably shouldn't have played in," per ESPN's Jenna Laine.

Jensen said in late July that game didn't cause any further injury to his knee, but that it wan't fully healed when he played, per Laine.

He also said that he had no regrets about not undergoing surgery, which he had been advised by an orthopedic surgeon would lead to scarring and limited movement.

Although Jensen participated in some of the Bucs' training camp, the Tampa Bay Times' Joey Knight reported last Monday that Jensen had yet to take a snap in a team drill, 27 days before the start of the regular season.

"When we go into the season, I don't think we're going to have anybody if they haven't practiced," head coach Todd Bowles said that day. "You always prepare if somebody gets hurt or if somebody's going to stay hurt. So we prepare that way every day, so that hasn't changed."

Robert Hainsey started all 17 of the Bucs' games in Jensen's absence last season. So far in training camp and the preseason, he has been splitting snaps with Nick Leverett.

Bowles said it is "probably going to come down to the last game" of preseason to determine whether Hainsey or Leverett will be starting for Tampa Bay at center, Knight reported.

Including his missed 2022 campaign, Jensen played five seasons and made 65 starts for the Bucs following four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. He was named to his first Pro Bowl in 2021.