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By Evan Winter
NFL
Managing Editor
Sep 24, 2025 2:07 PM EDT
David
Reginek-Imagn Images
The Tampa
Bay Buccaneers have been dealing with injuries to key players before
the 2025 season began and that hasn’t changed three weeks into the season.
The latest and most
devastating injury comes in the form of tight end Ko Kieft’s broken leg.
The injury occurred during the Bucs’ Week 3 win over the New York
Jets and is of the season-ending variety. This is the final year of
Kieft’s rookie contract, as well, so his future with the Bucs is definitely in
question.
Regardless, on the surface, losing your TE3 may not seem like the biggest deal
in the world, but Todd
Bowles and even Baker Mayfield both know how much work Kieft did behind the
scenes and how important he was to the Bucs offense.
Kieft helped set
the tone for the Bucs offense and special teams
“He was probably our toughest
player, one of our toughest three players on the team because he was our
tone-setter offensively,” Bowles told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “He
did a lot of things in the room from a blocking standpoint, so that we have to
try and run the ball different ways without them. So that was a huge loss for
us.”
Cody Mauch was another tone-setter for the Bucs offense and he’s also out for
the year. So, now, Tampa Bay is without its two biggest “firestarters”, which
can certainly have an effect on the rest of the group’s mindset in certain
situations. Plus, the Bucs no longer have those guys who get under the skin of
opponents and someone will have to fill that void.
But Kieft’s main value was
on special teams. The unit is already struggling enough after allowing a
punt and field goal to be blocked in back-to-back weeks and it’s easy to see
why his absence could lead to even more underwhelming protection.
“[He’s] a guy that does a ton for us on special teams
[and] a guy that doesn’t get a lot of credit in that regard, and then
offensively, [he’s a] tone-setter,” Baker Mayfield told reporters.
“He’s always the asshole touching you until the whistle is blown [and]
somebody’s pulling you off…
“… We have to have guys step up and do that, because, you know, our identity is
being smart and a tough team, but also (playing) physical, physical ball. And
we lost two guys for the year that have done that for us. So we have to have
guys step up and set that tone for us.”
It’s
been “next man up” all year long for the Bucs, so they’re used to it, by now.
It’ll be interesting to see how they make up for Kieft’s absence and who steps
up along the way.
https://atozsports.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers-news/ko-kieft-season-ending-injury-bucs/
