Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden updated the status of the Bucs on Tuesday, saying Starting DT Chris Hovan injured his knee during Monday night’s 38-23 loss to the Panthers. While the extent of Hovan’s injury isn’t known, the Bucs — who surrendered 299 yards rushing to the Panthers — face the league’s second-ranked rushing offense on the road in Atlanta next week.

Gruden also shed light on the status of WR Joey Galloway, who was active but did not play on Monday. Galloway, who missed all of training camp and preseason with a groin injury and sat out five weeks of the regular season with a foot injury, appears to have lost his starting spot due to the play of fellow veteran Antonio Bryant.

“Antonio [Bryant] is the reason,” explained Gruden. “They play the same position. Right now that’s just the way it is. It’s just unfortunate. Michael Clayton’s our flanker, Joey’s a split end and so is Antonio. Those are the positions they play.”

It’s quite the reversal of fortuntes. Galloway, who has just four receptions in limited playing time the last four games, led the Bucs with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2005-07. On Monday night, it was Bryant who posted the second 200-yard game in franchise history with nine recepetions for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

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