The Buccaneers have already suffered significant injuries to their skill-position corps this season yet are now tied for the NFC South lead. However, there appears to be another casualty from the resurgent team’s rotation, with Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reporting (via Twitter) the team fears Cecil Shorts tore all of the ligaments in his right knee against the Chargers.
Stroud reports the veteran wide receiver who is playing on a one-year contract may also have dislocated the knee, to make matters worse.
Shorts has played in eight games as a Buccaneer since signing with the team in September. The former Jaguars and Texans target caught one pass for 14 yards today, and a collision with Chargers safety Jahleel Addae may end his season. On the season, Shorts now has 11 receptions for 152 yards, which would be by far his lowest totals since his rookie season. He missed several games earlier this season due to a hamstring malady.
The Bucs are already without Vincent Jackson and Charles Sims, with the latter expected to be activated soon. They’ve gotten by with Mike Evans and a committee, but a Shorts injury deprives Tampa Bay’s receiving corps of more depth. Beyond Shorts, Adam Humphries, Freddie Martino and Russell Shepard represent the Bucs’ depth at wideout.
The Texans signed Shorts to a two-year, $6MM deal in 2015 but asked him to take a pay cut this offseason. Equipped with multiple drafted rookies at the position, Houston then cut him to route the sixth-year veteran to Tampa.