It has been a tough stretch, as of late, for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They've been handed insult to injury, quite literally, for a few weeks in a row.
In the midst of this three-game losing streak, the Bucs are also pretty banged up injury-wise. The team saw one of its top wide receivers, Chris Godwin, suffer a season-ending injury followed by Mike Evans tweaking a hamstring injury and causing him to miss multiple games, himself. While Godwin is obviously still out and Evans is inching toward a return, there are even more injuries at hand.
A couple of weeks ago, wide receiver Sterling Shepard injured his hamstring in a game against the Atlanta Falcons. And, while he played last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, he wasn't yet back to 100 percent health.
Bucs fans may feel like they're caught in a bad dream, but that isn't the last of wide receiver injuries. Rookie Jalen McMillan missed last week's game against the Chiefs with a hamstring injury as well (what's the deal with hamstrings in Tampa?).
Meanwhile, quarterback Baker Mayfield has missed practice a couple of days this week due to a toe injury, but he did state that he should be good to go on Sunday.
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One other major injury, on the defensive side of the ball, is that of safety Jordan Whitehead who's been dealing with a quad issue.
On Friday morning, though, there was finally some positive news on the injury front.
Good signs for #Bucs. QB Baker Mayfield (toe) S Jordan Whitehead (quad), WR Jalen McMillan (hamstring) WR Sterling Shepard (hamstring) all are working in practice today. Would assume only Mike Evans is definitely out for Sunday.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) November 8, 2024
It looks like the team should have Baker, Whitehead, McMillan and Shepard all on the field for this weekend's matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Bucs' offense is getting healthier just in time to end current losing streak
This is a big game for both teams, each having four wins on the season. The Bucs, at 4-5, are attempting to snap a three-game skid while the 49ers are surprisingly sitting at .500 and not looking like the same team they were a year ago.
For the Bucs, it's been about surviving without Godwin and Evans. Baker has played some very good football, for the most part, but also continues to provide fans with some of those "oh no" moments every once and a while.
Taking two Pro Bowl wide receivers out of the lineup might do that more often than usual.
Meanwhile, tight end Cade Otton has been the focal point and is coming on strong in recent weeks. While he's been impressive, as has offensive coordinator Liam Coen with his play-calling, it hasn't been enough.
If Tampa Bay can somehow even their record with a much-needed win over San Francisco this weekend, they'll be likely to get Evans back after their bye in Week 11. That'd be best-case scenario for a team looking to get back into the conversation in the NFC South race.