Tampa, FL (My Sportsbook) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed safety Jermaine Phillips on injured reserve Tuesday after he suffered a fractured left thumb in Sunday's 33-20 loss to Buffalo.

It marks the second year in a row that Phillips has ended the season on injured reserve. He fractured his right forearm late last season, an injury that also cut short his 2004 campaign.

Phillips started the Bucs' first two games of 2009 and accumulated 11 tackles. The eighth-year pro has spent his entire NFL career with Tampa Bay, and despite injuries, has started the last 66 games in which he's appeared from 2004-09.

In 96 career games, the 30-year-old Phillips has 417 tackles, 11 interceptions and 27 passes defensed.

Also on Tuesday, the Bucs released safety Steve Cargile, who was earlier released but then re-signed prior to Sunday's game with the Bills.