To use the most tired cliche possible, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are truly in an “all hands on deck” situation with just 5 games remaining in the regular season.
The Buccaneers are trying to set an NFL record with their fifth consecutive NFC South Division title and find themselves in a surprising dogfight with the Carolina Panthers, with Tampa Bay’s lead now reduced to just 1 game.
That the Buccaneers and Panthers play twice in the last month of the season — at Carolina in Week 16 and at Tampa Bay in Week 18 — only amplifies the drama.
It’s the kind of situation that seems like a perfectly potent mix for Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans to come back to after breaking his collarbone in a Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Evans has already been ruled out for a Week 14 home game against the New Orleans Saints but getting him back for a primetime game against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football in Week 15 is now a possibility, as is that Week 16 game against the Panthers.
“Buccaneers’ wide receiver Mike Evans has been pushing to play as soon as Thursday night vs. the Falcons as he works himself back into football shape from the broken clavicle he suffered earlier this season,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on Sunday, December 7. “There’s a chance he will play then and if not, then the Sunday, Dec. 21 game at Carolina would be realistic.”
Buccaneers Shrugged Off Rough Stretch in Week 13
The Buccaneers snapped a 3-game losing streak against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 and are currently 7-5 overall.
Evans, who holds the NFL record with 11 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, has missed a career high 9 games this season with a hamstring injury and broken collarbone.
McMillan scored 7 of his 8 touchdowns over the last 5 games of the regular season as a rookie in 2024 but he injured his neck in a preseason game. McMillan’s injury, originally reported as a severe neck sprain, ended up actually being a fracture.
Evans just returned to practice this week.
“Sources: Bucs legendary WR Mike Evans is having his practice window opened off IR, and he’ll return to practice today,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on Wednesday, December 3. “A quicker than expected return from a broken clavicle, Evans has been medically cleared. So Jalen McMillan and Evans practice today.”
There’s really no qualifying what it might mean to the Buccaneers to get both Evans and McMillan back at this point of the season — it would be that important.
Godwin Could Be Ready for Star Turn
While the Buccaneers hope and pray for Evans and McMillan to get back on the field, one of their other embattled and seemingly always injured wide receivers seems to be rounding back into form at just the right time.
Former NFL All-Pro Chris Godwin, who has missed 8 games this season with a lower leg injury, is coming off his best game of the season against the Cardinals, where he had 3 receptions for 78 yards on 5 targets.
Also of note about Godwin — he hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this year. Godwin has never went an entire season without a touchdown since the Buccaneers drafted him out of Penn State in 2017.
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