Buccaneers to Find Reprieve With Mike Evans’s Return

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have struggled of late with star wide receiver Mike Evans off the field, but that could soon change.

Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers points against the Washington Commanders during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 12, 2025. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like one of the NFC’s contenders early in the season with a solid grip on the NFC South.

Injuries caught up with the Buccaneers (7–6) at one of the team’s strongest positions—wide receiver with Mike Evans—with Jalen McMillan on injured reserve. That changed on Wednesday when the team activated Evans, a longtime star, and McMillan, a standout second-year receiver.

Evans and McMillan showed up as questionable on Wednesday’s final injury report, a good indication that they could play soon. When that occurs, the Buccaneers will be full strength at wide receiver with Evans, McMillan, Chris Godwin, and Emeka Egbuka all together—one of the most dangerous quartets of wide receivers in the league.

“They looked good. They looked fresh,” Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters after Wednesday’s practice, where both Evans and McMillan worked out. “They ran great routes. Looked like they never left. Obviously, they haven’t been hit or anything yet, but they looked good in practice.”

Evans and McMillan coming back couldn’t have come at a more critical time, where the team’s slippage from 5–2 has caused a deadlock for the division lead with the Carolina Panthers (7–6). Tampa Bay will look to build a winning streak on Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons (4–9), a team that nearly beat the Buccaneers in Week 1.

The Buccaneers will then face the Panthers twice down the stretch in the final month of the season. Carolina also has a road game at the New Orleans Saints (3–10) and a home game against the Seattle Seahawks (10–3). Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has the Miami Dolphins (6–7) besides the Falcons and Panthers.

The Buccaneers’ slide started with Evans breaking his collarbone during a Week 7 loss to the Detroit Lions. Evans, who has an NFL-record 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, left a void in the passing game, though the Buccaneers overcame his absence earlier in the season.

He missed three games due to a hamstring injury before Week 7, but the Buccaneers went 2–1 during that stretch as Egbuka, a rookie, emerged as a star. Evans only has 14 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown, but he has shown moments of greatness. Overall, Evans has big career numbers of 850 receptions for 12,824 yards and 106 touchdowns.

McMillan will play for the first time this season after he sustained three neckbone fractures against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason. A third-round pick in 2024, McMillan impressed last season with 37 receptions for 461 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games.

Evans and McMillan’s missing games left the Buccaneers finding ways to make things work for quarterback Baker Mayfield. And Godwin’s return from a 2024 season-ending injury kept him out of the first three games, and it didn’t end there as Godwin sat out another several weeks midseason due to a fibula injury.

Mayfield had to improvise with a receiving corps that looked much different than planned. In comes Egbuka, a 2025 first-round draft pick from Ohio State, to give Mayfield a reliable primary target.

Egbuka caught the game-winning touchdown against the Falcons in Week 1, and he took off from there. He has 54 receptions for 806 yards and six touchdowns in 13 games.

Those are the second-best numbers among all rookie receivers in the NFL. Panthers rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan has 57 catches for 826 yards and six touchdowns as he has helped quarterback Bryce Young produce the best season of his young career.

The Buccaneers may not have the receiving corps at full force against the Falcons before the first of two showdowns with the Panthers, but either way, it will end a long drought going back to Week 7 in 2024. That’s the last time Mayfield had Evans, Godwin, and McMillan all on the field to throw to.