Vita Vea wore a brace on his right knee after spraining the medial collateral ligament during the win at Detroit. The Bucs had been bracing themselves for much worse news about his injury than what they received Monday Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Head coach Todd Bowles said an MRI revealed the Bucs defensive tackle sustained a Grade 2 sprain, and he has not been ruled out of Sunday’s home game against the Broncos.

Vea was injured when outside linebacker Yaya Diaby collided with the side of his knee and he did not return for the second half. Ironically, it was Vea who contributed to Diaby’s high ankle sprain that forced him to miss much of training camp and all three preseason games.

With Vea out, the Bucs leaned on former Rams defensive lineman Greg Gaines, who played 66 snaps (78%) on defense. Gaines had one tackle and a quarterback hit.

“Well, you make this team for a reason,” Bowles said. “You know, we keep you and you do things that we know you’re comfortable doing. We try to put you in those situations and a lot of guys stepped up.”

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