Vernon Hargreaves Shown on Instagram Video Smoking Suspicious Cigarette

An Instagram video that appears to show Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Vernon Hargreaves smoking some sort of substance surfaced on Wednesday, albeit not on his own account but on an account that has since been deleted, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times.

The video in question has also been uploaded to Twitter:

Hargreaves, 22, missed seven games in 2017 with a hamstring injury and finished the year with 42 tackles. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 72.9, which put him 76th among cornerbacks.

But despite a mediocre season, the Bucs have maintained that the No. 11 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft remains an important member of the defense.

"We need Vernon to come back and play well, and I think he will," head coach Dirk Koetter said Tuesday, per Auman. "He had the hamstring injury, which lingered a long time. Vernon did not have a great year outside. Vernon played good at nickel. ... If Vernon was your starting nickel and you had another guy you liked at the other corner opposite (Brent) Grimes, there's not a team in the league that wouldn't like to have Vernon Hargreaves as their nickel."

Of course, the Bucs didn't envision Hargreaves being a nickel corner.

"You usually don't pick a guy in the first round to be your nickel, but stuff works out how it works out," Koetter noted. "Vernon is going to be a big part of what we do. I know he's anxious to get started. He wants to be an every-down player. At the very least, Vernon's going to be our starting nickel."

Auman couldn't reach Hargreaves or his agent for comment, and the Buccaneers "did not have any comment" when asked about the video.