Buccaneers running back Mike James came out of the gates smoking, logging 41 rushing yards on his first five carries of the game. Unfortunately it looks like his night could come to an early end, as James was carted off the field of the Dolphins-Bucs game in the first quarter. He reportedly suffered a fractured ankle.
As James was about to plunge into the end zone and put Tampa Bay up a touchdown, he was tackled from behind by Dannell Ellerbe, who appeared to land on James left ankle.
James lay on the ground, writhing in pain and quickly took his helmet off.
Trainers ran onto the field and made a very, very quick decision to have him carted off. It's good that he could move, but not so good that they went straight to the cart.
On the bright side, the Buccaneers told Lisa Salters of ESPN that James was questionable to return with an ankle injury. Salters expressed surprise at the classification. As she should: it certainly didn't look like James would return to the game when he suffered the injury.
The Buccaneers would eventually rule James out of the game, however. And Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that James suffered a fractured ankle and will be out indefinitely. Rapoport adds that "tests are still ongoing" and the type of fracture and timetable for a return are not yet known.
