Earnest Graham Ankle Injury Serious

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Tampa Bay Bucs running back Earnest Graham, who leads the team in rushing yards and touchdowns, might be finished for the 2008 season with an ankle injury. Earnest was hurt on his only carry in yesterday’s 19-13 win over the Minnesota Vikings, limping off after landing awkwardly when he was tackled after a 3-yard gain. Bucs head coach Jon Gruden was not optimistic during his presser today:

“I believe Earnest Graham’s ankle looks to be a serious injury and his status for the rest of the season is very much in question right now. It doesn’t look like he’ll play anytime soon. I’m just very disappointed for our guy Earnest. He means a lot to us. He’s done so much for us here in the last couple years. He’s a key reason why we are where we are. We’ll have to make some adjustments, obviously.”

Among those adjustments would be getting running back Cadillac Williams into the lineup alongside Warrick Dunn. Cadillac was just activated last week after spending over a year rehabbing a potentially career threatening knee injury. If there were any silver lining to Earnest’s injury, at least as far as the team is concerned, it’s that Cadillac is back. How far back and how effective he will be remains to be seen, though.

Source: Buccaneers.com, Photo: Newscom