TAMPA, Fla. -- Although the Buccaneers are uncertain about the status of guard Logan Mankins' knee injury, they don't seem inclined to sign free agent Richie Incognito, who previously visited with the team.
Coach Lovie Smith indicated Monday that Incognito probably is not an option if Mankins is sidelined by his injury.
"As you look at our roster right now, we kept 10 active [offensive linemen], where we have 10 guys on our 53-man roster on our offensive line,'' Smith said. "We'll probably be choosing between those. Normally, we keep eight offensive linemen, so we have a couple over right now. We'll probably choose from that group if Logan can't [play]. But Logan has been injured before, and he feels like, of course, he'll be able to go. I'm not saying too much about injuries right now. Let me hold on a little bit."
Incognito was the central figure in last year's bullying scandal with the Miami Dolphins. He had a five-hour meeting with Smith and general manager Jason Licht, but the Buccaneers traded for Mankins the next day.
Although there have been multiple reports that Mankins has a hyperextended knee, Smith would not give specifics on the injury.
"Again, I'm not trying to run away from your question,'' Smith said. "Less than 24 hours after an injury I can't give you a whole lot more than that. If a player has a serious injury, we'll send him to our medical people and start getting him checked out, which we've done. We're evaluating him. That can be an MRI [or] all doctors checking out him every which way we can."