It won't be easy for Bucs to replace Davin Joseph

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a bold move to upgrade the interior of their offensive line for this year by signing Carl Nicks to a massive contract in free agency.

Unfortunately, he won’t be playing with the other talented guard on the roster this season as Davin Joseph will be placed on injured reserve. Joseph will undergo surgery Monday to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee after being injured in Friday’s preseason game with the New England Patriots. It’s a big blow for the Bucs.

“You mourn and you move on. And that's what Davin wants us to do,” Tampa Bay coach Greg Schiano said. “He's going to have his surgery and we're going to fix our sights on how to move forward.''

The next man up, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, is Ted Larsen. He’s got a little experience, starting 14 games at left guard over the last two seasons. Another option could be putting Larsen at center and moving center Jeremy Zuttah to guard.

"We're going to try to work a couple of things,'' Schiano said. "Right now, I'm not sure. Obviously Larsen has worked there. But some of that has to be competed for I think. I don't think it's a knockdown slam dunk who it is there.''

The Bucs won’t have long to make their decision.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune