On Monday evening, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came crashing back down to Earth with a 24-9 road loss to the Detroit Lions. It was the first truly bad game of the year for quarterback Baker Mayfield, and the team also got an unfortunate update when wide receiver Mike Evans had to leave the field due to a collarbone injury.
The Buccaneers will next hit the field on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, and the injury updates have continued to mount ahead of that matchup.
“Bucs HC Todd Bowles told reporters that RB Bucky Irving (foot/shoulder) and WR Chris Godwin (fibula) will be out for Sunday’s game vs the Saints,” reported ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on X, formerly Twitter.
Schefter also noted that the Buccaneers' bye will come after that game, which will certainly be a relief for the players as the ailments the team is dealing with continue to mount.
A banged-up Buccaneers team
Neither Godwin nor Irving played in the Buccaneers' recent loss to the Lions, and once Evans went out, Mayfield was left essentially depleted from an offensive weapon perspective. Even standout rookie Emeka Egbuka was playing through injury and clearly not at 100%.
Still, injuries are a part of the game, and are something that Mayfield and the Buccaneers have grown accustomed to dealing with over the last few seasons.
Mayfield came out this season on fire, leading Tampa Bay on several game-winning drives throughout the first few weeks of the campaign, and vaulting himself toward the front of the NFL MVP conversation in the process.
Although those MVP talks took a hit with his performance on Monday, voters are likely to (hopefully) consider the amount of injuries the team is dealing with in their decision-making process.
In any case, the one-win Saints present the opportunity for the Buccaneers to have something of a get-right game, and then they'll be able to enjoy the bye weeks and hopefully get healthy. The Buccaneers and Saints are set to kick off on Sunday at 1:05 PM ET from New Orleans.
