The Buccaneer WR1 doesn’t necessarily need redemption, but he does need a bounce-back game in Week two. Penalty yards aren’t counted as receiving yards, and Mike Evans has to make up some ground if he wants to reach 1,000 yards and break Randy Moss‘ record.
Evans was mostly “shut out” of the stat sheet in the first game as he only had one reception for two yards and a touchdown, but he was certainly not shut out of the game. Evans drew two massive pass-interference calls that served as the expected big plays that Evans would generally make in a game, and this upcoming matchup should see more improvement.
Evans is one of the toughest wide receivers in the NFL and was playing this first game coming off of an injury that would have kept most players out of the game. Even with the injury, Evans still showed why he is the best receiver in Tampa Bay.
Assuming the healing continues to go well, Evans will hopefully return to 100% by this weekend, where he should help overwhelm the Carolina secondary.
Evans hasn’t lost that much time in the race to 1,000 receiving yards, as he is no stranger to 100-yard games, but making the most of the opportunity this weekend will be vital in starting the early part of the season off strong.