While we all ride the high from Monday night's thrilling comeback win, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are dealing with a much more brutal reality. Both Calijah Kancey and Luke Goedeke were lost to injuries and now a third player has joined the growing heap.
Cody Mauch popped up on the injury report after the win in Houston, with head coach Todd Bowles suggesting on Wednesday that he could miss Sunday's game against the Jets. It turns out Mauch will miss much more than that; the knee injury he suffered will require season-ending surgery.
Buccaneers insider Greg Auman was one of the first to deliver the bad news.
Bucs guard Cody Mauch's knee injury is significant enough he will require surgery that is expected to end his season. Another major loss for the Bucs, now down three starting OLs in the short term.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 18, 2025
There's not sugar-coating it -- this is grim.
Buccaneers lose yet another key player to a season-ending injury
Tampa Bay was already dealing with the loss of Goedeke which comes in addition to not having All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs healthy. Wirfs underwent knee surgery in the offseason that has forced him to miss the team's first few games, and it's unlikely that he'll return for Sunday's home opener.
What this means is the Bucs will be trying to get to 3-0 without three of the team's starting offensive lineman. This already has shades of 2022, when Tampa Bay's front line was a MASH unit that simply couldn't find a way to stay healthy.
Mauch joins Kancey in players the team lost to season-ending injuries in Monday night's win. Dan Feeney was signed off the Buffalo Bills practice squad right before news broke that Mauch would miss the rest of the season, but the Bucs will now scramble to try to figure out how to shuffle protection for Baker on a short week.
In all likelihood, the plan will be to play Graham Barton at left tackle, Michael Jordan at guard next to him, Ben Bredeson at center, and Charlie Heck at tackle. Elijah Klein could be relied on to fill in for Mauch, in addition to Feeney, but this is an absolutely brutal blow to the Bucs and an all-time buzz harshing after the high the team had been riding after Monday night's win.
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