SAN DIEGO -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fear wide receiver Cecil Shorts III might have suffered a significant right knee injury during the first half of Sunday's 28-21 win over the San Diego Chargers, a source told ESPN's Adam Kaplan.
Head coach Dirk Koetter did not have specifics on the injury, but he called it an "unfortunate" one.
"The good news is when I went out there, even though he knew it was a serious injury, he was not in excruciating pain at that point," said Koetter. "You hate to see it.
"You can tell by the way our players reacted the respect they have for Cecil."
On the Bucs' first possession, Shorts caught a short pass from Jameis Winston on third-and-9, but he then took a vicious hit across the middle of the field from Chargers safety Jahleel Addae. It sent Shorts airborne, and he landed on his shoulder and neck. He lay on the field for several seconds as a cart was brought out and he was placed in an air cast.
Players from both teams huddled around Shorts, who was sitting up, before he was taken to the locker room.
Two plays later, Winston was intercepted by Casey Hayward.
The Bucs are already without wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Tight end Luke Stocker also left Sunday's game, with an ankle injury on the first play.