PITTSBURGH — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin their 2019 preseason Friday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at Heinz Field.
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said several players will not travel to Friday’s game, including Jamel Dean, Vita Vea, Jack Cichy, Lavonte David, D’Cota Dixon, Anthony Nelson, Scotty Miller, K.J. Brent, Scott Ornoff, Mike Liedtke, Nick Fitzgerald and Justin Evans.
Vea left Tuesday’s practice with an apparent knee injury.
“We did the MRI right away on Vita yesterday,” Arians said. “[There is] a little fluid in there, a little swelling, so we'll do another one on Friday. There's nothing really to report on what it is yet, or [the] timetable as far as [his] return.”
Arians said the team would know more about Vea’s injury after Friday, and called the original prognosis “good.”
The Buccaneers are also expected to be without Jason Pierre-Paul and Lavonte David.
Pierre-Paul injured his neck in an offseason car crash. David had knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear, according to several media reports.
Friday night marks Arians’ first game coaching since he retired after five seasons of coaching the Arizona Cardinals at the end of the 2017 season.
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