Key injury hurts Tom Brady and Buccaneers ahead of Panthers game

The Buccaneers have already struggled at protecting Tom Brady in 2022. Another injury to a tackle won’t help that prospect much.

Of all the positions to suffer from injuries this season on the Buccaneers, the offensive line has been one of the most impactful.

When healthy, this unit is quite talented and has a decent ceiling and this pairs perfectly with a quarterback like Tom Brady that may not have as much fire in his legs as he used to.

However, when hurt, this unit has added a massive amount of pressure to Brady’s already-full plate.

Other than right guard, this line has lost every player that it needed to rely on, and it just lost another key piece ahead of the playoff push.

Backup tackle Josh Wells, who has filled in for Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs this season, is out for what could be the rest of the year. This couldn’t come at a worse time with Wirfs already shaky on the field after hi own injuries and Smith uncertain to return.

This puts the Bucs in a place where they could be down to their third-string left tackle and backup right tackle if the cards fall in the wrong way.

At the very least we are looking at going into the most important game of the season against the Panthers to potentially win the division with a massive hole on the offensive line without Wells to stem the bleeding.

How the Bucs handle this situation will directly correlate to how well the team plays against the Panthers when it matters most.

Still, counting on much good to happen at this point of the year with so few options is a bit of a far-fetched option.

The Buccaneers are going to have to find a way to keep Tom Brady protected on that left side if they want to win their last two games.

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