Tampa Bay defensive tackle Vita Vea could make Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott’s return to the field quite uneasy when the Buccaneers and Cowboys kick off the NFL season in September.
Vea had his way with Prescott the last time the two met on a football field in 2018, months after the Bucs took Vea in the first round of the draft. The Bucs pass rusher pressured Prescott six times, a career-high for Vea, in a 27-20 loss to the Cowboys per Pro Football Focus Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers will host the Cowboys in week 1 of 2021
The last time they met was in week 16 of 2018 – Dallas beat Tampa Bay 27-20
Vita Vea was all over Dak in that game and had 6 total pressures – tied for the most in a game for his career#GoBucs pic.twitter.com/1CGrzs3FWR
— PFF TB Buccaneers (@PFF_Buccaneers) May 13, 2021
Prescott finished that 2018 game against the Bucs with 161 yards passing for a touchdown plus only two yards rushing. This fall, Prescott will play his first game since a severe ankle injury ended his season in 2020.
Vea hasn’t dropped anything on social media yet about facing Prescott and the Cowboys again. Bucs quarterback Tom Brady has, however, with an Instagram post that took off.
Tampa hosts “America’s Team” in the NFL Kickoff Game on Sept. 9.
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Talking With His Pads
Vea has a recent history of success against mobile quarterbacks such as Prescott.
He helped the Bucs pass rush shut-down Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. Mahomes mustered 270 yards passing, 33 yards rushing, and no touchdowns.
Vea notably got to Mahomes on a third-down early in the game per WFLA’s Dan Lucas.
#Bucs Vita Vea has introduced himself to Patrick Mahomes. And it came at the perfect time on that 3rd down play.
— Dan Lucas (@WFLADan) February 7, 2021
Vea had a tackle in the Super Bowl amid 31 snaps, his second game back from an ankle injury the sidelined him from Week 5 through the end of the regular season. In the first five games of 2020, he had 10 tackles and two sacks.
“The day we found out he was going to come back and play, it was a very big day for all of us,” Licht said in an April 1 press conference. “Very exciting day — coaches, scouts, players, owners, everybody. We were all very excited.”
Journey Back With Big Reward
Vea kept believing he would play again in the 2020 season despite the severity of the ankle injury he endured at Chicago.
“Obviously I was down and out that night, but I think that night I told myself ‘if you just push through this, you push through rehab, you might have a chance,'” Vea told reporters during Super Bowl week. “They told me I had like a small chance of making it, so I took those chances of what they said, and I really took it to heart.”
The Bucs awarded Vea after the season by picking up his fifth-year option on April 26, worth $7.638 million per Sport Trac. Bucs general manager Jason Licht announced plans to exercise Vea’s fifth-year option during an April 1 press conference.
“He plays a very pivotal role in our defense. When he’s in there, a lot of things happen for not just him, but everybody else around him,” Licht said.
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