Sources: Bucs OL Opeta tore ACL in practice

TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Sua Opeta, who was competing for the starting left guard job, suffered a torn ACL at an indoor training camp practice Tuesday evening, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Opeta, an undrafted free agent who served as a backup with the Philadelphia Eagles the past four years, was engaged in a head-to-head competition with Ben Bredeson, who, like Opeta, signed this offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

Coach Todd Bowles had praised both players’ work in the offseason program and said it was the battle he was most looking forward to in camp when the pads came on. The two had been rotating starting reps with padded practices beginning Monday.

The Bucs had put a lot of work into upgrading their interior offensive line this offseason. In addition to signing Opeta and Bredeson, the Bucs selected UTEP’s Elijah Klein in the sixth round of the NFL draft in April, along with using a first-round draft pick on center Graham Barton out of Duke.