Buccaneers first-round pick Calijah Kancey carted off from practice

Buccaneers first-round pick DT Calijah Kancey carted off from practice with a calf injury

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a big injury scare in the early days of training camp. First-round pick Calijah Kancey, a defensive lineman from Pittsburgh, was carted off from practice after injuring his calf.

Kancey pulled up lame after cornering in a non-contact drill in Sunday’s practice. It was captured on video and disseminated on social media:

The verbiage “carted off” conjures visions of season-ending injuries, but that does not appear to be the case at all with Kancey. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles downplayed the significance of the injury after the Sunday session,

“Yeah, he’s got a calf strain,” Bowles told reporters. “We’ll get an MRI and we’ll see where it’s at.”

Here’s hoping for the best for Kancey, the No. 19 overall pick in the draft. He is expected to play a significant role as a pass rusher right away in Tampa Bay.