Buccaneers Place Linebacker on Injured Reserve

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense has mostly held up its end of the bargain through the early portion of the regular season despite a 3-4 start, but they'll be without a crucial piece of depth now for at least four weeks. The team announced Tuesday that it had placed linebacker K.J. Britt on injured reserve.

We've placed ILB K.J. Britt on injured reserve.
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 25, 2022

Britt suffered an ankle injury in the team's 21-3 Week 7 loss to the Carolina Panthers. The linebacker had played exclusively special teams through seven games, notching three total tackles on 141 snaps.

The Bucs typically don't have a lot of snaps to spare at inside linebacker after Devin White and Lavonte David; both players have appeared on 100% of the Bucs' defensive plays this year. Still, Britt would have been one of the first players in line should either of the two starting linebackers miss time. Now, the Bucs only have rookie Olakunle Fatukasi available to back up both spots for their Thursday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens. They'll likely commence scouring the league for potential emergency depth.

Britt joined the Buccaneers as their 176th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The linebacker starred for four years at Auburn, totalling 118 tackles and 3.5 sacks for the Tigers. The Bucs will miss him mostly for his special team contributions; he has only played 28 defensive snaps in his 24 appearances.