Buccaneers outside linebacker Shaq Barrett injured a knee in the second quarter Sunday. He briefly returned in the third quarter before leaving for good.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians said after the game the initial diagnosis is a sprained knee.
“Looks like a minor MCL,” Arians said on the Buccaneers Radio Network’s postgame show, via joebucsfan.com. “Hopefully (it’s) nothing that he will miss any time.”
Barrett will undergo an MRI on Monday.
The Bucs downplayed Chris Godwin’s knee injury after last week’s game, and it turned out the receiver tore his ACL. So the Bucs will hold their breath until they see Barrett’s MRI results.
Barrett recorded his 10th sack of the season in the victory over the Panthers. He is only the fourth player in team history with multiple double-digit sack seasons, joining Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice.
The Bucs played Sunday’s game without outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul, who has a torn rotator cuff that also kept him out Weeks 3-4.
Rookie Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and reserves Anthony Nelson and Cam Gill saw more playing time Sunday with Pierre-Paul inactive and Barrett missing most of the second half.