The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have moved from one of the older teams in the league to one of its youngest over the past few years.

A large part of this has been due to their work through the NFL Draft and undrafted free agency. The Bucs have relied on these young players, and they have reaped the rewards from it. However, head coach Todd Bowles announced on Thursday that one of their most recent acquisitions this offseason, undrafted rookie safety J.J. Roberts, suffered an injury in practice and could miss time once tests come back.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers S JJ Roberts / X | @LockdownJ_

Roberts was signed as an undrafted free agent this offseason out of Marshall. Roberts began his collegiate career at Wake Forrest for three years before finishing his final two seasons with the Thundering Herd, where he went on to be named First-Team All-Sun Belt.

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Roberts has a versatile skillset that fits well into Bowles’ defensive philosophy of having gadget-like players that can play multiple positions after playing corner and safety at the collegiate level.

Roberts’ versatile skillset and athleticism have been on display thus far through rookie minicamp, training camp and the preseason. In his preseason debut against the Tennessee Titans, Roberts had a solid game with five tackles and two passes defended.

Roberts has been vying for a spot on the Buccaneers’ roster to help backup Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith, so having a serious injury to his knee could be a huge dent in his development and getting used to the change from college to the pros.

While the severity of the injury is unknown, it was reported that he walked off the field under his own power, although the belief is that it could be something serious.

If the injury is as serious as speculated, then Roberts will have a long way to go to prove that he is worthy of making an NFL roster.