Gerald McCoy's status for the rest of the season up in the air due to a bicep injury
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their Week 14 game to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, dropping even further into the NFC South basement with a 4-9 record. Worse yet, the Bucs may have lost their best player to an injury.
Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy suffered a bicep injury, according to the team, and his availability for the remainder of the season is in question. The team announced this via its official Twitter account.
DT Gerald McCoy, the Bucs' team captain and top pass-rusher, suffered a bicep injury on Sunday, which may or may not impact his availability for the final three games of the season. https://t.co/wcWkDbjEEl — Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@TBBuccaneers) December 11, 2017
McCoy got an MRI on his bicep Monday, according to coach Dirk Koetter.
"He did have an MRI and Gerald -- we had a meeting at 1:20 p.m. -- he was not back from that yet," Koetter said, per the team's official website. "I don't have the report on that. It was a bicep injury. He was getting an MRI on it and we will know more later today."
McCoy has made the Pro Bowl in five consecutive seasons and is having another good all-around campaign with 40 tackles, five sacks, and 40 quarterback pressures (sacks plus hits plus hurries), according to Pro Football Focus. The Bucs don't play their next game until next Monday night against the Falcons, so we may not get an update on his status until they begin practicing later in the week.
With the team firmly outside the playoff mix, it would not be a surprise if the Bucs kept McCoy out, just to be safe, but if the MRI comes back clean, they may elect to let him play out the string.