Final Buccaneers injury report for Week 3 features a stunning update on star player

While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to one of the hottest starts in the NFL, an unfortunate theme developing revolves around injuries.

Last week, the Bucs were without Antoine Winfield Jr., Calijah Kancey, and Luke Goedeke but still managed to win in Detroit. The victory was costly, though, as Vita Vea was lost in the third quarter with a knee injury.

Thankfully it wasn't a worst-case scenario, as an MRI revealed a sprained MCL and no ligament tears. Not only did the Bucs avoid a nightmare scenario, but it could be that Vea returns much sooner than anyone expected.

Vita Vea miraculously practices less than a week after spraining his MCL

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles spoke to the media and noted that Vea practiced with the team on Friday in a limited capacity. He's still a longshot to play, but the Buccaneers didn't rule him out for Sunday's game against the Broncos.

"He did some things," Bowles said after Friday's practice. "He's gotten a lot better. We'll see how much better he gets until Sunday. If not, we'll put him down. If he's feeling good, we'll see where he is."

This might be a rare case where the Buccaneers getting good news is actually more lukewarm than anything else. While getting Vea back is huge -- the defense is singifcantly better with him in it -- there's the question to be begged as to whether Tampa Bay can get away with resting him.

Denver isn't good, and Bo Nix doesn't need much help to get himself in trouble. The Bucs marched into Detroit last Sunday and walked away with a statemen victory despite missing key players, which is to suggest they might be able to do the same at home against a worse opponent.

Then again, everything about this Broncos game screams trap game so the Bucs can't take anything for granted right now.

Vea is still limited and close to doutbful for Sunday's game, so this all might end up being a moot point. The real takeaway is that Vea is likely going to be healthy and ready to contribute for the next stretch of games where the Bucs' opponents get much harder and the games more important.

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