Bucs' Godwin likely out for year, Evans until bye

TAMPA, Fla. — The Buccaneers‘ Chris Godwin will undergo surgery for a dislocated left ankle and will likely be done for the year, coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday, one day after the star wide receiver was carted off the field in the final minute of a “Monday Night Football” loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“There’s a chance if we make a late playoff run, he could be back,” Bowles said of Godwin, whom he said did have some additional structural damage to the ankle, “but he’s undergoing surgery and he’s going to be out.”

Mike Evans, the Bucs’ other star receiver and franchise leading scorer, suffered what Bowles described as a “moderate” hamstring strain and will be sidelined “a couple weeks.” He said Evans likely won’t return until after the team’s Week 11 bye week, meaning they’ll be without nearly 50% of their team’s offensive receiving production against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8, the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 and San Francisco 49ers in Week 10.

Evans had entered the game with a hamstring strain, missing practices Thursday and Friday before doing some limited work Saturday and carrying no injury designation entering the game. But on a 24-yard sprint into the end zone on a go route, Evans suffered an injury to a different portion of the hamstring. He fell to the grass and immediately grabbed the back of his leg.

“It’s pretty sore. I don’t know what the significance of that is either, but he’s going to miss a couple weeks,” Bowles said.

Godwin’s injury happened when he was tackled from behind by Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith. Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the league is reviewing the play to determine whether it contained all the elements of a hip-drop tackle, which was made illegal this offseason and could result in a fine.

The team spent Tuesday evaluating what options they might have for help at receiver, both internally and externally. Evans and Godwin entered Week 7 tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions with five each, with Evans recording a sixth on a 25-yard touchdown on the opening drive of their game Monday night.

“We’ve looked at outside the building, but to get a true No. 1 in here, you got to make some massive trades and give up quite a bit. That’s not where we are at this point,” Bowles said. “We feel comfortable with the guys in the building. They’re probably not of name status of Mike and Chris or as accomplished right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play. We’ll alter some things and [Rakim] Jarrett will be back this week. We’ll look at him in practice as well and we’ll make a decision off of that.

“But to go out and get a guy to come in here and be a No. 1 and a dominant guy is probably going to cost you half your team, and we feel comfortable with the guys we have in here now and we know what their skill sets are and we’re going to go with them right now.”

The Bucs did invest a third-round draft pick in rookie wideout Jalen McMillan, who had a strong training camp but has had a quiet start to the season, missing two games with a hamstring injury. He mustered three catches on eight targets for 15 receiving yards Monday.

Veteran Sterling Shepard, Mayfield’s former Oklahoma teammate, had one catch on one target for 15 yards. Second-year receiver Trey Palmer, who missed two games with a concussion, was active against the Ravens but only saw three targets with one catch. Bowles said he will be able to assume a “full workload.” The Bucs designated Jarrett to return from injured reserve on Oct. 17, which kicked off his 21-day practice window, allowing him to be activated at any time.

While the Bucs did make big-name free agent signings during the Tom Brady era, such as trading for Rob Gronkowski and signing Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette and Le’Veon Bell, the team’s preference has been to draft, develop and re-sign its own players, as seen with the past several free agency signing periods.

Evans’ and Godwin’s production culminated in Mayfield having the best statistical start to his career so far this season, with 18 touchdowns through the first seven games of the regular season, more than any other quarterback in the league, while completing 70.5% of his passes. Bowles acknowledged that he understood the desire to look elsewhere but emphasized the team’s track record in cultivating its own talent, even as it vies for a fourth consecutive division title and fifth consecutive playoff berth.

“If there are smart moves out there for us to make, we’re definitely looking to make moves all the time, if it benefits us,” Bowles said. “At the same time, we believe in developing our young receivers and getting those guys ready to play, and that’s what coaching is for. You can’t just go out and grab every $50 million receiver and come in and automatically expect them to play. You got to have some faith in what the young guys are doing and the growth that they’re doing, and we’re confident in those guys and we’re going to play with them.”

In addition to Godwin and Evans, rookie starting nickelback Tykee Smith, who had back-to-back weeks of forced fumbles in Weeks 5 and 6 and recorded his first career interception in Week 6, left Monday’s game to be evaluated for a concussion and did not return.

“He is in concussion protocol on a short week,” Bowles said. “We’ll see what happens, but that’s usually tough on a short week.”