The defending Super Bowl champions were able to eek out a 31-29 last-second win over the Dallas Cowboys despite losing one of their starting corners in the midst of the action. In the first quarter of Thursday night’s season opener between the Buccaneers and Cowboys, Tampa Bay cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting suffered an elbow injury that ended his night.
Fortunately for Murphy-Bunting and the Bucs, the injury does not appear too serious with Bruce Arians saying after the game that the corner suffered a dislocated elbow and indicated that he would be OK.
Murphy-Bunting got his arm caught in between Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb and teammate Antoine Winfield Jr. and went down awkwardly. To make matters worse for the Buccaneers, the play where Murphy-Bunting was injured resulted in a 22-yard touchdown by Lamb, so not only did they lose a starting corner, but they allowed points on the board.
The 24-year-old is entering his third season with the Buccaneers. The former second-round pick in 2019 started in 13 of his 16 regular-season games played last season and totaled a career-high 70 tackles while defending three passes and recording one interception. Before leaving this game, he totaled two tackles
With Murphy-Bunting out, Ross Cockrell entered the game and finished with six tackles on the night.
