Vita Vea broke his leg and is done for 2020
The x-rays confirmed what was obvious to the naked eye and from watching the replay video of the sickening injury. Vita Vea has a broken leg and will miss the remainder of the season, coach Bruce Arians said Friday.

Vea was injured in the fourth quarter of the Bucs' 20-19 loss to the Chicago Bears Thursday night while making a tackle of Bears running back David Montgomery. Linebacker Devin White fell across Vea's right ankle, or "friendly fire," as Arians described it.

"Vita's got a broken leg and will probably miss the rest of the season," Arians said. "It's a big, big loss because you lose a player like O.J. (Howard) and Vita, you plug the next man in, but they're not the same. I hate it for him, because was having such a great year.

"I don't know if there was a better nose tackle out there. He was getting sacks. He was getting pressure up the middle. (He) got hurt on a great hustle play on the side going back and forth, and it was really friendly fire that got his leg. He was playing really, really well."

The Bucs have Rakeem Nunez-Roches and rookie Khalil Davis to replace Vea, but it's a significant dropoff. "He's playing good," Arians said of Nunez-Roches. "He'll step in there, he'll be that guy and we'll see what else happens. Right now, it would be Nacho."

Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times, published 9 October 2020