Key Buccaneers starter out for remainder of 2025 season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the news they were fearing the most after they defeated the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football.

One of Tampa Bay's up-and-coming stars, defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, left the game midway through due to a pectoral injury and was ruled out not long after.

Here is the Calijah Kancey pec injury: pic.twitter.com/uRUE8jPpgP
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) September 16, 2025

The Buccaneers had hoped he'd just strained his pectoral, which would be a recovery of just a few weeks, but instead, they got the worst-case scenario — per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Kancey tore his pectoral muscle, and that recovery will require him to be out for the remainder of the season.

Sources: Buccaneers DE Calijah Kancey, their 2023 first-round pick who had 11.5 sacks during his first two NFL seasons, is feared to have torn his pec during Monday night’s win at Houston. If tests confirm it, he will be out for the season. pic.twitter.com/NmSTQfup2H
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2025

Calijah Kancey is a big loss for the Buccaneers

Kancey was drafted in 2023 to bolster a Buccaneers pass rush that has been flailing for some time now. He missed a combined eight games the last two seasons, and now, he's set to miss 15 this year with a season-ending injury. As his injury concerns continue, the team's already middling pass rush takes another hit.

Tampa Bay's edge rushers failed to impress against the Houston Texans, who have one of the worst lines in the league. The Bucs got three sacks on the night, but none of them came from the team's edge rushers — defensive tackle Greg Gaines, linebacker Lavonte David and safety Tykee Smith all got sacks while Yaya Diaby and Haason Reddick came up empty-handed.

Kancey had 7.5 sacks last year, and losing that production on a defensive line that already struggles to generate sacks is a rough prospect.

Now, the Buccaneers will try and fill the void. No one else plays with the explosiveness and small size that Kancey does, but the Buccaneers did just draft defensive tackle Elijah Roberts out of SMU in the fifth round — he may have to step up alongside players like Gaines and Logan Hall for 2025.

The Bucs are now waiting on one more status update after their Pyrrhic victory over Houston. Right tackle Luke Goedeke left the game after re-aggravating a foot injury, and Tampa Bay is waiting on his status to see what its offensive line will look like going forward.

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