Todd Bowles was the one who had to deliver the bad news regarding Mike Evans, confirming the star wide receiver will be sidelined for the majority of the season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to the injury he sustained during the game against the Bills.
The report was shared by Ian Rapoport on X: “WR Mike Evans suffered a broken collarbone and is out for most of the year, coach Todd Bowles announced. Absolutely brutal.” The Bucs must now determine how to replace their veteran receiver while he recovers.
“It’s never good to see one of your star players go down like that, especially with him just coming back and everybody excited to see him,” Bowles said. “So, it’s a blow and we’ve been holding down since he’s been gone and we just got to regroup and come back.”
With 11 consecutive seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards, this is a significant loss for the Buccaneers, who were off to a strong start this year. While Mike Evans unfortunately will not be able to extend that record, he will at least remain tied with Jerry Rice for that all-time mark.
Who could replace Evans?
The options on the Buccaneers depth chart are limited, but they do have available personnel to replace Evans. These players include Sterling Shepard, Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson, and Ryan Miller, any of whom could see increased playing time now that Evans is out.
The Buccaneers are not losing their absolute best wide receiver and being left with nothing; they still have Emeka Egbuka, who is healthy. So far this season, Egbuka has recorded 527 yards and 5 touchdowns with an average of 17 yards per game, a highly productive output that offers some relief to the fans.
