TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Gage was carted off the field on a stretcher late in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Gage was injured when he tripped, went to the ground, was unable to make a catch and took a hard shot to the neck from safety Donovan Wilson. Gage appeared to try to get up but failed and stuck his hand in the grass in frustration.
Players from both teams knelt and prayed as paramedics attended to Gage. Tom Brady, who threw a pass to Gage, stood by the medics before the game started.
“They took him to the hospital,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said. “Right now, he’s in trouble. They’re also testing him to see if he’s injured his neck.”
Regarding the movement of his extremities, Bowles added, “His fingers were moving when he was down. I don’t know about the rest of them.”
The play came two weeks after Buffalo Bills defensive end Damar Hamlin collapsed, suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated on the field during one of Monday night’s opening games. He was released from a Buffalo hospital last week.
“It was tough — especially with what happened the last couple of weeks,” Bucs inside linebacker Lavonte David said. “Russ is a great guy off the field and a great guy on the field. We hope he’s OK. He was moving and things like that; that was a good sign. I hope he’s OK.”
When Tampa Bay running back Cam Brate, who suffered a neck injury in Week 6 and left the field on a stretcher, added, “You hate to see a guy go down like that, especially when the game doesn’t seem to reach that point. It’s really hard to see your teammate like that. We’re all thinking about Russ and we hope he’s doing well. Yeah, it’s tough.”
ESPN’s Jenna Laine and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
