Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie defensive end Calijah Kancey was carted off the field with a right calf injury during Sunday’s practice.
Kancey, the team’s first-round draft-pick this year out of Pittsburgh, will have an MRI on what coach Todd Bowles called a calf strain after practice.
“He’s adapting to the scheme mentally, and then he was adding his physical part to it,” Bowles said Sunday of Kancey. “He’s putting it together quicker than normal rookies do. So hopefully it’s not that bad and he can get back.”
The injury occurred during training camp practice as Kancey, 22, was turning the corner on a drill. He pulled his right leg up, then hopped forward without putting weight on the leg. He grabbed his lower leg toward his calf before being helped onto a cart and taken off the field.
Kancey, the 19th pick overall in this year’s draft and a Miami native, ran a 4.67 time in the 40 at the NFL combine.
He played three years at Pitt. In 2002, he earned first-team All-America honors, with 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 11 games, becoming Pitt’s first unanimous All-American since Aaron Donald.
–Field Level Media