Vita Vea was carted off the field late in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ game against the Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on Thursday night.
The Bears had a 1st-and-10 at the 41 with just under two minutes left. Chicago threw a pass to David Montgomery in the backfield, who was swarmed by a pair of Bucs defenders.
Vea went to make the tackle, as did linebacker Devin White. White collided with Vea while making the tackle and bent the defensive lineman’s right ankle the wrong direction.
Vea was down in pain after the play and had to be carted off the field with some sort of leg injury
Vea had three tackles including a sack in the game. The 25-year-old was the No. 12 overall draft pick by Tampa Bay in 2018 and has become one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL.
Tampa Bay losing Vea to injury would be a major detriment to the team’s defense, which entered the game 8th in the league in points allowed per game.
