Jason Pierre-Paul won't be playing regular season football anytime soon.
The Buccaneers are placing the pass rusher on the non-football injury list, according to a report from ESPN, which cites unidentified league sources. He will not be eligible to play until Week 6.
Buccaneers are placing DE Jason Pierre-Paul (neck) on reserve/non-football injury list, which means he cannot play for at least the first six weeks of the season, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2019
Pierre-Paul, 30, fractured vertebra in a car wreck in May and made his first Tampa Bay practice appearance of the year on Tuesday. He hasn't been cleared to play yet.
He opted not to undergo surgery to repair his injury and is expected to be capable of returning to the gridiron in October or November.
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians isn't worried about Pierre-Paul missing time though.
"He knows how to rush the passer and that's all he's going to do," Arians told reporters earlier this month. "He'll know where to line up. I don't want him getting bumped on the sideline or anything else."
Pierre-Paul notched a team-high 12 1/2 sacks in 2018 and played in all 16 games for Tampa Bay.