Buccaneers center A.Q. Shipley may have suffered career-ending neck injury
Tampa Bay Buccaneers center A.Q. Shipley’s career may be over.
Shipley, Bucs coach Bruce Arians said on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday night, may have suffered a career-ending neck injury.
"A.Q. Shipley appears to have had a career-ending injury," Arians said on the radio, via ESPN’s Jenna Laine. "And I feel bad because I love A.Q. He's one of my favorite players of all time and was playing good for us. But I think it was a previous injury that might have just got aggravated in his neck."
Shipley left their 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in the fourth quarter with a neck injury — something Arians initially described as just a “stinger.” It’s not clear what the injury is specifically, however it’s clearly serious enough for Arians to think that it could sideline Shipley permanently.
The 31-year-old was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2009 draft following an impressive career at Penn State. He made his debut three years later with the Colts, and bounced over to the Ravens in 2013 before returning to Indianapolis in 2014. Shipley teamed up with Arians in Arizona in 2015, and started there for three of his five seasons with the organization — though missed one while recovering from an ACL injury.
Shipley has appeared in five games this season for the Bucs, and took over as the starting center for the last two games after the team shuffled the line around due to multiple injuries.
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