Joseph breaks foot, will miss several weeks

Starting right guard Davin Joseph has undergone surgery for a broken foot and could miss the season opener -- and beyond -- for the second time in three years.

Joseph suffered the injury late in the second quarter of Sunday's 27-10 win against the Patriots Sunday and underwent surgery on Monday. The team is still attempting to determine an exact timetable for his return, but the St. Petersburg Times has learned he could be sidelined anywhere from four to eight weeks.

Even a conservative estimate means he could miss at least a couple regular-season games.

In 2006, Joseph suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss the first three games of his career. He returned to start the season's final 12 contests.

Joseph was coming off a dominant performance against New England. The offensive line played superbly in the game, with Joseph leading the way on some of the night's best runs. Tampa Bay had 114 yards rushing the first half alone.

In Joseph's absence, rookie Jeremy Zuttah took first-team reps in today's practice. Veteran Dan Buenning is also capable of playing guard, though he has been working mostly at center this fall.

Elsewhere, the Bucs saw Jeff Garcia (calf) and Joey Galloway (groin) practice -- Galloway for the first time this fall -- but Gruden would not commit to playing either in Saturday's game against Jacksonville. Garcia took 100 reps in a lengthy walkthrough to give him some mental work.

"It's been about three weeks since he's explosively had to change direction, reset and throw the ball," Garcia said. "He does play with a certain unique style that's hard to emulate. Until he does it I can't really say. Hopefully, in two days, we'll know."

Comments

[Vince]

Potential big loss -- here comes Zuttah!

[JB]

Do you you know if Davin will be out a long period of time?
Thanks

[Yoshi]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone needs to let the Farve situation go. He is a Jet now and we must move on! Gosh!

[Ben]

lets go rutgers

[Shyt]

Well that sucks balls.

[Sean]

The word CRAP comes to mind. This sucks!

[Snook]

Why report that he's out 4-8 weeks BEFORE you actually know that's true?

[jeff]

gruden new david was getting surgery why cant thay just say what it is . thay act like a bunch of drama queens

[Joe Simmons (Slow Joe)]

Wow, first we cut Petigout, now we lose Joseph for at least a month. I hate seeing this when our OL was building so much chemistry together, and Davin was becoming our best linemen.

But, this is the importance of depth. Luckily, we have Buenning and Zuttah.

[Kurt]

Thank goodness for drafting and developing good backups. This is where depth becomes so important. Thanks Gruden and Allen for putting the pieces into place to make this loss minimal. Saying that; this is really sucky news!

[Dale]

Ruck Futgers

That being said. Go Zuttah.

[Feeney]

This is bad, bad news. We need Davin

[Basra]

The guys at JoeBucsFan.com got it right. Now Garcia's definitely going to have to run around like barnyard chicken. I hope he's up to it.

[Kazabud1]

They must have been making millionaires out of egg shells when they got this guy. Who cares.

[Kazabud1]

They must have been making millionaires out of egg shells when they got this guy. Who cares.

[DR]

This will show how much depth Tampa has. Preseason ball means nothing. You get a roster spot. It's a whole new ball game when the season starts.

[scared]

you guys are hilarious... everything is talking about our depth like zuttah or whoever we put in is going to be same as joseph. just look at what he was doing in the pats game, running 15 yds. downfield with the RB. There were only WRs blocking out there with joseph, no offensive linemen in sight! This is a huge loss for us, and if he is out for a while, we need to get someone. I would be shocked if a rookie that was picked in the 3rd round can come in and be good, especially considering he is learning every darn position on the line practically. Instead of saying "oh well, its ok, we have depth" we all need to be praying! if he is out long term, its lights out for us.

[Noel (Bahamas)]

Wow. Had no idea he was got injured while watching the game. That is bad news. Hopefully we can overcome this loss. Wow......in other news....why not add Joe Horn as he just got released from Atlanta. I know he is old and slow, but like Hilliard he is reliable.

[scared]

noels idea might be a good one. the question is who is slower, hilliard or horn? is one more reliable than the other?

[ToddsBucs1]

This sucks haven Davin get hurt.The line was coming together well.Ithink Zuttah will do well.I also like Penn but, would love to have that bookend LT.Go Bucs!!!

[john]

Davin will be back for the second half or season and for the playoffs.Im telling you guys we have plenty of depth at o line we will be fine.DR i know preseason dont mean anything but its sure as hell better to to win, than just say it preseason who cares.

[Oliver]

The Bucs just can't avoid injuries. Probably the most hyped line we've had in years, and already one guys is out for a matter of weeks. Great news.

[James]

Where's all the clowns who wanted the FO's head for drafting Jeremy Zuttah?

idiots!

[Brian]

I am crushed by this...I don't even have the heart to rag on our biggest tool-DR. This was becoming-is-the best O' line we have possibly ever had and Davin is great. Him and Sears will be the best guard duo in the NFL very soon. Davin please come back soon and in good health!

[Kurt]

The good news is that we Beunning is good enough to start in this league and we've got Zuttah, who may be better than him.

[DR]

Man, Joseph is actually a really good player. This will test Zuttah a little bit, but even if Joseph is out when they play Dallas, they will still manhandle Dallas' D-Line.

[DR]

Zuttah is God, no big loss. Doesn't matter if Zuttah or Joseph is there, they will push Dallas' D-Line around.

[John Murphy]

Zuttah will be fine bit the guy that gives this line a mean attitude is the kid from Boston College Trueblood, I've watched him a lot, Tough, tough tough.

Must be interesting to see him and Hovan go at it, aren't they both from Boston College

[john]

Hey DR is right this time!But Davin will be back by the time we play the boys.

[bobbyd]

that sucks wind. I really hope he's not out long. I saw the same thing scared saw... 300+ pound Joseph chasing Bennett down the field looking for someone to smash. This guy is unbelievably valuable. We have some depth and should be able to get by, but we essentially lost an offensive weapon.

[Mike]

And people wonder why I HATE preseason football

[Greg]

Did he break it kicking Petitgout in the @ss out the door?

[The LastWalshPick]

I really hope Zuttah can pull it off...

GO BUCS>>>>>>>>>>>

[BucsFan]

bad news i rally like davin, against the pats, he was running behind and in front bennet blocking people.

that season opener is an important game and we will miss him.

[BucsFan]

i believe in the coaching staff.

they will take care of it.

go bucs.

[Joe DiMaio]

The loss of Joseph is going to hurt as
he's rapidly become a pro bowl caliber
guard. With that said the depth on the
O-Line with Buenning may be able to hold
the fort until Joseph returns, hopefully
by week 4.----Joe

http://fantasyfootballplayersedge.blogspot.com

[Jonathan]

Everyone needs to relax. Joseph will be fine. Keep in mind that we are still 2 weeks away from the opener and have 3 very winnable games to start the season. I believe we can beat the Saints, Falcons and Bears with Buenning/Zuttah holding it down if it comes to that. I know everyone is used to hitting the panic button around here, but we are a much better team than our first 3 opponents. As long as he's back by Oct, we'll be in good shape.

[Tampa Goobers]

ohh no ... the sky is falling ... let's slit our wrists!

PS) I heard that James Lofton might be available too!