Arians: Buccaneers OL Shipley May Have Suffered Career-Ending Injury
Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman A.Q. Shipley appears to have suffered a career-ending injury on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams, head coach Bruce Arians unfortunately shared on Wednesday night on SiriusXM's NFL Radio.
“I feel bad because I love A.Q. He’s one of my favorite players of all-time and was playing good for us," Arians said. “But I think it was a previous injury that might have just got aggravated in his neck.”
No further details have been provided regarding the injury, by Arians or the Buccaneers, since the head coach shared his belief that Shipley had suffered from a stinger at the end of the fourth quarter, shortly after the game.
Shipley started the last two games at center for the Bucs, in place of Ryan Jensen who moved to left guard as starter Ali Marpet has missed three consecutive contests with a concussion. While playing without Marpet led to increased pressures compared to normal coming off of the left side of the offensive line, Shipley and Jensen held the spots down well in place of former backup Joe Haeg, who started and struggled at left guard against the New Orleans Saints in week nine.
A 12-year veteran who has spent time with six different teams, Shipley has started 72 of the 110 career games he's appeared in. Shipley began his career with Arians in Pittsburgh as a seventh-round pick in 2009, while Arians served as the Steelers' offensive coordinator.
The two spent the 2012 season together with the Indianapolis Colts before uniting in Arizona from 2015-17 while Arians served as the Cardinals' head coach. Shipley signed with the Buccaneers this past offseason.
