The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without their top downfield weapon on offense, as Mike Evans is reportedly going to miss multiple weeks because of a lower-body injury he suffered in Week 3's win against the New York Jets, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
“The current belief is that #Buccaneers star wide receiver Mike Evans will miss in the range of 3-4 weeks due to the hamstring injury he suffered Sunday, sources tell @CBSSports,” Zenitz shared via a social media post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday morning.
It's the same timeline reported by Greg Auman of FOX Sports.
Wrote Auman: “As others have reported, Mike Evans is expected to miss 3-4 weeks with what is a moderate hamstring injury. Not as significant as what he had last year.”
This is a significant blow to the Buccaneers, particularly to their passing attack. Tampa Bay, which is still missing wide receiver Chris Godwin, is 12th in the league so far in the 2025 NFL regular season with an average of 24.0 points per game.
While they are only 22nd with 191.7 passing yards per outing, opposing defenses are getting stretched by the mere presence of Evans' towering figure on the field. Without Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield will very likely turn more to the likes of rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and veteran Sterling Shepard, who are leading Tampa Bay after three weeks of football with 181 and 153 receiving yards, respectively.
From an individual standpoint, a multi-game absence for Evans puts his incredible streak of 1,000-yard seasons at risk of getting snapped. He is tied with Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice for most consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards, with 11 each.
The road to another such campaign in 2025 now gets even more challenging for the former Texas A&M Star and six-time Pro Bowler, who barely cleared the 1,000-yard mark in 2024, when he produced 1,004 receiving yards to go along with 11 touchdowns in 14 games.
Based on the reported timetable for Evans' return, he could be back in action as soon as Week 6's clash against the San Francisco 49ers or in Week 7 versus the Detroit Lions on the road. Week 8 will have the Buccaneers visiting the New Orleans Saints, but that's also a week before a bye for Tampa Bay.
