Bucs LT Smith leaves practice with knee injury

Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting left tackle Donovan Smith left practice early with what appeared to be a knee injury on Tuesday.

Smith had his legs rolled up on from the backside of a running play during team drills. He tossed his helmet off and remained on the ground for a few minutes before being helped off by trainers.

The Tampa Bay Times said it "appeared to be a fairly serious knee injury," but head coach Dirk Koetter was unable to offer further details after practice.

"We'll have to see," Koetter told reporters. "...Obviously, we're hoping for the best, and we'll have to see what happens."

Smith, 25, has started all 48 games at left tackle since he was taken 34th overall by the Bucs in the 2015 draft. He had not missed a snap in his career until the second half of a Week 9 game against the New Orleans Saints last season.

"That's probably one of Donovan's best characteristics," Koetter said. "He's very reliable and has been very durable over the course of his career. So we just have to see."

Michael Liedtke, a former undrafted free agent on his fifth NFL team, replaced Smith on the left side to finish practice.

Smith didn't allow a sack in 2016 but committed 13 penalties. He trimmed the latter figure to eight penalties last season but allowed five sacks.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)