Buccaneers Lose Adrian Clayborn For The Season

Adrian Clayborn's Season Is Over After Injury, Buccaneers Confirm

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano confirmed Monday that defensive end Adrian Clayborn will miss the remainder of the 2012 season with a knee injury.

Clayborn suffered the injury during Sunday's loss against the Dallas Cowboys, on a play when Gerald McCoy sacked Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

A 2011 first round pick by the Buccaneers, Clayborn has yet to miss a game in his professional career. That streak, unfortunately, will come to an end this Sunday, when the Buccaneers host the Washington Redskins.

As a result of Clayborn's injury, the Buccaneers could change their defensive scheme, using three down linemen defensively instead of four.

The exact nature of injury Clayborn suffered wasn't specified, as Schiano said it was "one of those three-letter deals." As the folks over at Bucs Nation point out, an ACL tear would require a lengthy rehab, and would be far more detrimental to Clayborn's development compared to an MCL or PCL injury.

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Adrian Clayborn Injury: Bucs Fearful DE Could Be Out For Season

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Adrian Clayborn may have suffered a serious injury in Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys to keep him off the field for the rest of the season.

Clayborn injured his right knee hustling on one of four sacks for the Tampa Bay defense in the losing effort.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that Clayborn was wearing a brace on his leg. The Bucs don't exactly have the depth to replace Clayborn, having lost Da'Quan Bowers to an Achilles injury earlier this year. But here's why Bucs Nation says the loss of of Clayborn might not be as bad as it seems for the Bucs:

While Clayborn had a good season and showed some promising moves this year, he wasn't playing up to his previous levels. He's been coming off the ball late, and hasn't made an impact on passing downs, although his play in run defense was strong. The Bucs will likely ask Daniel Te'o-Nesheim to replace Clayborn, as he did this game after Clayborn's injury. George Johnson should be in the mix as well, although the defensive end has been inactive the past two games.

Read more on the Bucs at Bucs Nation and SB Nation Tampa Bay.

Adrian Clayborn Injury: Buccaneers DE Injures Leg Vs. Cowboys

Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Adrian Clayborn had to be helped off the field after suffering an apparently serious leg injury against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon. It appears that the injury occurred during a Tony Romo sack by Tampa's Gerald McCoy.

Clayborn, a 2011 first round pick, will be sorely missed by the Buccaneers during his absence. The team has already announced that he'll sit out the remainder of Sunday's game against Dallas, although the long-term prognosis is unclear. Only in his second NFL season, Clayborn has never missed a game.

Last year, Clayborn recorded 42 tackles, seven sacks and three forced fumbles as a rookie, but he has been fairly quiet early this season. In the first two games of the season, the Iowa product recorded just one tackle with zero sacks.

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