TEAMA POSITION PLAYER NAME (ex Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa) is dealing with a [BLANK] injury. Here are the latest updates.
Mike Evans has been missing ever since he suffered a severe aggravation of a lingering hamstring injury. He had injured it initially in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints, but it went a step further after catching his 100th receiving touchdown in Week 7 against the Ravens.
Todd Bowles hinted that Evans may be coming back after the Bye Week, and we got an idea of his status during the Thursday injury report.
Mike Evans injury update
On Wednesday, Evans was limited in practice but he did do some work which was a step forward. On Thursday, he was a full participant which leads everyone to believing we will see him return on Sunday against the Giants. Bowles shared that Evans was “trending” towards playing but quarterback Baker Mayfield gave the most reassuring news on his top target.
“From what I can see, good, and just [from] talking to him, he seems really positive about it. I mean, you guys know, Mike is a pro. He’s going to do everything he can to get back out there with us and fight for this team as we take it one game at a time.”
How long will Mike Evans be out?
Mike Evans is expected to play on Sunday against the New York Giants. Barring a major setback on Friday at practice, he should not miss any more time with this hamstring injury.
Evans has been dealing with a hamstring issue but coming out of the Bye Week, Baker Mayfield was asked about the health of his top target.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense is among the best in the NFL, but they are missing some key pieces. Mike Evans has been missing ever since he joined the 100-touchdown club in Week 7 of the season.
Evans has been dealing with a hamstring issue but coming out of the Bye Week, Baker Mayfield was asked about the health of his top target.
“From what I can see, good, and just [from] talking to him, he seems really positive about it. I mean, you guys know, Mike is a pro. He’s going to do everything he can to get back out there with us and fight for this team as we take it one game at a time.”
Evans was listed as being limited in practice on Wednesday, which is better than nothing. The offense has remained effective in his absence, but getting him back sooner rather than later is for the betterment of everyone.
The Bucs will need him if they hope to make a playoff run in the second half of their schedule.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Sterling Shepard has warned his teammates not to underestimate New York Giants QB Tommy DeVito.
The New York Giants will welcome back a familiar face on Sunday when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Sterling Shepard, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Giants, will face off against his former team for the first time.
The biggest storyline of the week is, of course, the Giants benching of Daniel Jones and turning to Tommy DeVito at quarterback — a face Shepard is familiar with from last season.
Shepard has warned his teammates, that DeVito is not someone who should be taken lightly:
Sterling Shepard has been telling his Buccaneers teammates that Tommy DeVito is not someone that they can take lightly this Sunday
“I mean, I love Tommy, man. He’s definitely a very energetic guy, he’s very confident,” Shepard said. “That’s the reason I’ve been telling these guys, it’s not somebody that we can take lightly. He’s going to go out there with confidence and play his type of style ball. So, yeah, other than that, he’s a great dude and that was a time to be around, for sure.”
Like the Giants, Shepard and the Buccaneers, are trying to snap a losing streak of their own on Sunday. Shepard has 16 catches for 166 yards and a touchdown so far this season. It will be interesting to see his workload on Sunday with Mike Evans trending toward a return.
Both Shepard and the Giants knew that his time in New York was reaching its end during the final weeks of last season. Still, he will get a warm welcome from Giants fans Sunday.
The Giants are hoping to get a spark by starting DeVito on Sunday, just as he provided last season and Shepard is certainly making sure his team is aware of what DeVito brings to the table.
The New York Giants square off in a Sunday afternoon battle against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12. Here are three causes for concern.
The New York Giants will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium with hopes of creating a spark out of the bye week.
That spark will have to come via the Giants’ new QB1, Tommy DeVito, or as most Giants fans know him, “Tommy Cutlets.”
This, of course, comes following the decision by the Giants earlier this week to bench Daniel Jones and start DeVito instead of Drew Lock, who they signed in the offseason for $5 million. He has served as the backup quarterback all season.
The Giants come in well-rested off the bye week sporting a five-game losing streak after their embarrassing loss to the Carolina Panthers in Munich, Germany.
Meanwhile, the Buccaneers come in with a four-game losing streak all of which have come against teams that are currently .500 or better.
Here are three causes for concern ahead of the Week 12 matchup.
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The return of Mike Evans
Wide receiver Mike Evans is trending toward a return on Sunday after being out with a hamstring injury since Week 7. Evans, one of the league’s best and most underrated receivers, will present a major challenge for the Giants’ secondary — in particular, Deonte Banks, who has struggled mightily in his sophomore season.
The Bucs come into Week 12 with the second-best completion percentage in the league and will go up against a Giants’ defense that ranks 30th in opponents’ completion percentage. If Evans can go, it would give Tampa Bay an added boost in this game.
Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
Bucs may be better than their record
As previously mentioned, the Bucs come in with a four-game losing streak. All six losses this season have come against teams that enter Week 12 with a record of .500 or better.
The Bucs also had some impressive victories this year. Three of their four wins have come against against the Washington Commanders (7-4), Philadelphia Eagles (8-2), and Detroit Lions (9-1).
In fact, the Bucs’ only game against an opponent under .500 was against the New Orleans Saints.
The Giants will be the worst opponent (record-wise) the Bucs have had on their schedule so far this season.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
The Bucs rushing attack
The Bucs are averaging 5.0 yards per carry this season, which ranks fifth in the league and could be a recipe for disaster considering the Giants have struggled against the run all season long.
The Giants are giving up a league-worst 5.3 yards per carry heading into Week 12.
The Bucs rush the ball at just over 41 percent of their plays. However, given the mismatch in this category, the Giants can expect a heavy dose of the Tampa Bay rushing attack on Sunday.
The Bucs’ social media teams shared every touchdown pass that Baker Mayfield had thrown in 2024.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a Bye Week during the NFL’s 11th week of the season. They spent it doing several things, including getting healthy and working on the little things.
Those fans were left with little to enjoy outside of the Broncos beating the Falcons unless they were on social media, where the Bucs’ social media teams shared every touchdown pass that Baker Mayfield had thrown in 2024.
The first one of the year found Mike Evans, and during the package, fans can enjoy the former Aggie joining an elite club in NFL history. Passes to Cade Otton, Chris Godwin, Sterling Sheppard, and more are also included in the package which can be found below.
As the team comes out of their Bye Week and prepare for the Giants in Week 12, Mayfield is on pace for career highs in every passing category.
The former Heisman Trophy winner is on pace for 4.285 passing yards and a whopping 41 passing touchdowns.
Since we don’t have a game this week, enjoy every @bakermayfield touchdown so far in 2024 👨🍳
Cade Otton’s recent breakout in the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin has allowed him to be considered for the event.
The Pro Bowl is not held in much high regard by the media, but it still means something for players to be credited with having good seasons. It also allows them to get together during Pro Bowl week, and new bonds can be made that could benefit teams down the road.
Cade Otton’s recent breakout in the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin has allowed him to be considered for the event.
NFL Media discussed some potential sleepers for the Pro Bowl and the Bucs tight end made the cut. Kevin Patra writes “In three of the past four weeks, Otton generated at least 75 yards — a number he’d never previously hit in a regular-season game. Since Week 7, his 20.8 receiving EPA is tops among tight ends, his 39 targets are second-most among TEs. . .The Bucs have a tough road ahead to get back into the postseason, but if they can, Otton will be a key reason for the late-season surge.”
Regardless of the outcome of the Bucs’ season, Cade Otton’s emergence bodes well for their long-term plans. Having one less position to worry about in the draft and offseason allows more money and time to be invested in other areas.
Cade Otton’s play has allowed the Bucs to feel good about the entire tight end position; a Pro Bowl would put a bow on that conversation.
On Monday, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles gave everyone an update on Evans and his hamstring injury.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense has remained efficient despite the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. We have been expecting to get Mike Evans back at some point while Chris Godwin has been on record saying that the only chance he has of coming back is in the playoffs.
“I’ll have to see where he is next week. He’s getting better and better. With the week off, hopefully he’ll be able to do something next week.”
For what it is worth, Bowles gave that same answer when discussing Josh Hayes’ and Tristan Wirfs’ injury status. He has stated this position previously after the injury occurred, so it may also indicate that not much has changed for him.
Soft tissue injuries, such as hamstrings, are always a touch-base sort of injury. It isn’t fun to deal with or monitor but that is the cards we are currently dealing with.
In a game that was not nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate, here are 5 key takeaways as the Bucs continue to look for answers.
In what was sort of a midseason battle of attrition of under-performing teams between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers, the Buccaneers once again fell short, this time in regulation as Jake Moody hit a game-winning FG as the clock expired.
In a game that was not nearly as close as the scoreboard would indicate, here are 5 key takeaways as the Buccaneers continue to look for answers following their fourth-straight loss.
The Buccaneers are not built for close games
Close games are traditionally won by out-coaching your opposition. Todd Bowles is unable to do that and has proven it time and time again. Whether it is poor clock management or just simply playing without a killer instinct and playing to win, Bowles is overstaying his welcome among fans. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who would be the front-runner to take over the team should the Buccaneers make the unlikely midseason move at head coach, has continued to show flashes of great calling, followed by headscratchers. On the season, the Buccaneers
Bucky Irvin should be RB1 from now on
Of that headscratcher, as mentioned above, decisions would be why the Buccaneers have not named rookie RB Bucky Irving the clear-cut RB1 after routinely out-gaining Rachaad White on running plays. White is dynamic in the passing game; however, splitting nearly 50% of carries every week is less than ideal as Irving is not only the team leader in rushing yards but out-gains White by over a yard per carry, which is a lot considering how close the Buccaneers games have been as of late.
Defense is poorly indescribable
Injuries be damned. Players get hurt weekly, and there is no excuse for how poor this Buccaneers defense is, especially with the number of self-inflicted wounds we see weekly. That falls back on coaching. Bowles continued odd-man substitutions rarely allow for his best players to be on the field at the same time, namely on the defensive line. In last week’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Yaya Diaby, Vita Vea, and Calijah Kancey all saw more than 55% of defensive snaps, which was the highest for all three players all season. Antoine Winfield Jr. has to put 120% effort into every play, not to account for a lack of talent but for a lack of effort from his teammates, which is a recipe for disaster as the season progresses.
The lack of depth at WR should’ve been addressed
The NFL trade deadline came and went, and all the while, the Buccaneers were missing superstar WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. This left Mayfield solely to rely on a young and unproven wide receiver corps, as Jason Licht and the Bucs front office chose to stand pat and not make a move. TE Cade Otton has emerged as Mayfield’s favorite–and most reliable– target over the last several weeks; outside of Otton and the Bucs running backs being utilized in the passing game, it’s become a total crapshoot if and when someone else will step up. Luckily for the Buccaneers, Mayfield continues to toe the line as an outlier in the MVP conversation. Evans will likely return following the bye, which should help open up the offense more.
Bucs playoff hopes dwindling
Per The Athletic, the Buccaneers entered Week 10 with only a 21% chance of making the playoffs, and with another NFC loss to a team in the Wild Card picture, that only makes things harder. Five of the remaining seven games are against fellow NFC teams, making each a must-win bout. As the Bucs enter the bye week, they will look to address some of the problems in hopes of shoring up the defense. In Week 12, the Buccaneers will play against the New York Giants, who have been a mess all season, with the caveat that Bowles has never won a game following a Bye Week.
The storyline with Mike Evans coming into the year was his pursuit of 100 receiving touchdowns but since achieving it we haven’t seen him.
The storyline to follow with Mike Evans coming into the year was his pursuit of 100 receiving touchdowns, but we haven’t seen him since achieving it. The Bucs were able to help him get that achievement back in Week 7 on Monday Night Football, in that same game we saw him leave due to aggravating a hamstring injury.
On Wednesday, Evans was listed on the injury report as being limited in practice and we saw through the lens of Rick Stroud that he was working with trainers.
The team targeted a return for the future Hall of Fame wide receiver after their Week 11 bye. Whether he can return this week or not is yet to be seen. Hamstring injuries can be tricky, and the fact that they were an issue prior to the significant injury occurring in Week 7 means the team won’t take any chances.
One thing is for sure, though, the team winning will help his chances of returning. If the team is losing, they will take their time with his return; regardless, it will be a situation worth monitoring as the weeks go on.
The Bucs were left in limbo with the injuries to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, but someone has emerged.
The Bucs were left in limbo after Chris Godwin and Mike Evans’ injuries, but someone has emerged. In recent weeks, tight end Cade Otton has become Baker Mayfield’s favorite target, helping the Bucs’ offense remain explosive.
“It’s really been his route-running. Not that he couldn’t do it – I don’t think we asked him to do it because we had the other guys out there doing it. So, just asking him to step up more in a receiver role, you really see his route-running prowess and his precision.”
Since losing Evans and Godwin three weeks ago, Cade Otton has 25 catches for 258 yards and three touchdowns. In the six games prior, Otton had just 19 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown. It will be interesting to see how he continues with Evans slated to return later in the season.
At the very least, Otton may have removed the tight end position from the team’s draft board.
