At garbage time of Baltimore’s 41-31 win at Tampa Bay last night, Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin sustained a dislocated left ankle. Making matters worse, star WR Mike Evans left the game in the first half with a right hamstring injury.
“Our prayers go out to him,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said of Godwin. “Chris is a hell of a player and a hell of a human being. Not much you can say. You feel bad for him, and unfortunately, they’re not going to cancel the games. We got to step up and move on. But our hearts are heavy.”
The injury took place with 1:04 remaining when Baltimore LB Roquan Smith tackled Godwin from behind and his ankle appeared to get caught under Smith’s body.
Many of Godwin’s teammates took a knee and looked away, with QB Baker Mayfield removing his helmet and putting his head into his hands in frustration, concern and disappointment.
“This absolutely sucks,” Mayfield said. “Yeah, it sucks for our team, but Chris deserves better than that. He’s an unbelievable guy. An unbelievable teammate. Obviously, you guys have seen — he’s played extraordinary this year. Got a heavy heart right now.”
Evans and Godwin both entered the game tied for the NFL lead in TD catches with five apiece. Godwin had seven receptions for 65 yards last night.
In seven games this year, Godwin had 50 catches on 62 targets for 576 yards and five TDs, but he will unfortunately miss the rest of the season.
Despite coming into the game with a hamstring strain that caused him to miss two days of practice, Evans had a 25-yard TD catch from Mayfield in the first quarter. With that score, the Texas A&M product became only the 11th player in NFL history to record 100 career TD receptions.
But in the second quarter, Evans wasn’t able to hang on to a Mayfield pass in the end zone. As he fell to the ground, Evans grabbed his hamstring and was clearly in pain.
After a few moments, he was able to gingerly walk off the field with a significant limp. Evans is expected to miss about four weeks.
Evans and Godwin are ranked #1 and 2 for the Bucs in all-time receiving yards, respectively. In seven games this season, the 31-year-old Evans has 26 catches for 335 yards and six TDs.
This is the second career-threatening injury for the 28-year-old Godwin, who tore his ACL and MCL in Week 15 of the 2021 campaign. He has produced at least 1,024 receiving yards in four of the previous five seasons.
Tampa Bay (4-3 straight up, 4-3 against the spread) remains in a first-place tie with Atlanta in the NFC South. That spot atop the division standings will be on the line when the Bucs host the Falcons on Sunday.
Going into last night’s game, Tampa Bay was a 2.5-point home favorite at most books. But with the injuries to Godwin and Evans, the Falcons were adjusted to 1.5-point ‘chalk’ early this morning.
Since then, most spots have moved Atlanta to -2.5. The total has been reduced from 48 points down to 46. The Bucs are +120 on the money line.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, FanDuel had the Falcons as -180 ‘chalk’ to win the NFC South. The Bucs had +175 odds.