According to multiple reports early Tuesday, Tampa Bay (3-0 straight up, 2-1 against the spread) star wide receiver Mike Evans is going to miss multiple games with a strained hamstring sustained in his team’s thrilling 29-27 non-covering home win over the New York Jets in Week 3.
According to DraftSharks, this is the seventh straight season in which Evans has had some sort of hamstring issue. He missed four weeks and three games with a hamstring injury last season, but this issue isn’t considered to be as bad.
Multiple NFL insiders have speculated that Evans will be out for 2-3 weeks, while ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that he’ll be sidelined for 3-4 weeks.
The Bucs’ next four games look like this: vs. Philadelphia, at Seattle, vs. San Francisco and at Detroit.
As of Tuesday afternoon, most books had the unbeaten Eagles listed as 3.5-point road favorites at Tampa Bay. The total was 43.5 points, while the Bucs were +150 on the money line.
Evans has 14 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown on 27 targets through three games this year. His catches have produced a team-best 10 first downs.
Despite missing three games in 2024, Evans was still able to become the only player in NFL history to start his career with at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first 11 seasons. Jerry Rice also had at least 1,000 receiving yards in 11 straight years, but they weren’t the first 11 seasons of his career.
Evans finished 2024 with 74 receptions for 1,004 yards and 11 TDs in 14 regular-season games. He added seven catches for 92 yards and one TD in a home loss vs. Washington in the playoffs.
The 32-year-old Evans has spent his entire career in Tampa Bay since it selected him with the #7 overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. In 171 career regular-season contests, the Texas A&M product has 850 receptions for 12,824 yards and 106 TDs.
Evans has played in 10 postseason games with five different Bucs’ teams, hauling in 52 catches for 801 yards and six TDs.
Although Evans will miss a few games, Tampa Bay is hoping to get veteran WR Chris Godwin back for his season debut Sunday vs. Philadelphia. Godwin was off to a fantastic start in the Bucs’ first seven games last year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. He had already caught 50 balls on 62 targets for 576 yards and five TDs.
Godwin, who signed a three-year extension during the offseason, had four seasons with at least 1,024 receiving yards in his first seven years in the NFL. The 29-year-old Godwin is a Penn St. product who the Bucs drafted #84 overall in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Tampa Bay has won all three of its games with fourth-quarter comebacks to date. That factoid is more remarkable when you consider that the Bucs were without three starting offensive linemen vs. the Jets.
OG Cody Mauch and DT Calijah Kancey are two starters that have already sustained season-ending injuries. Also, OT Luke Goedeke is on IR but with a designation to return at some point later in the year.
Furthermore, starting WR Jalen McMillan isn’t expected to be in uniform until November due to a severely strained neck. McMillan landed awkwardly in Tampa Bay’s second preseason game.
The Bucs are hoping that four-time Pro-Bowl OT Tristan Wirfs can return Sunday vs. Philadelphia.
FanDuel currently has Tampa Bay with 22/1 odds to win Super Bowl LX. Those are tied for the 10th-shortest odds on the board along with Washington.
The Bucs are -320 ‘chalk’ to win the NFC South.