To the relief of Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans everywhere, wide receiver Jalen McMillan made his triumphant return last week against the Falcons.
His return comes after he missed the last four months with a broken neck, one that was even more serious than it sounded.
McMillan addressed his injury while talking with the media this week and revealed that it was such a serious injury that he was close to being paralyzed. It was a sobering reminder of just how intense football can be, and makes his return after just a few months even more miraculous.
Bucs WR Jalen McMillan was told by doctors he came close to being paralyzed after a neck injury he sustained in a preseason game at Pittsburgh. He talked about his long road back to playing and making his first catch last Thurs. pic.twitter.com/jmpf4yzR81
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) December 15, 2025
Every time a new piece of injury news comes out about McMillan, it gets worse. First, he severely strained his neck, then Bowles stated he broke his neck. Now it appears the injury was near-catastrophic.
For someone to be injured this badly, and want to continue playing football is mind boggling, but shows his dedication. Despite playing behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the emergence of Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson, McMillan believes in himself, and wants to play football.
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In his return in the dramatic loss to the Falcons on Thursday night football, McMillan caught two passes for 38 yards. The second-year receiver was much less involved coming off injury than his counterpart, Evans, understandably so.
"The doctors told me I was fine, my neck was healed, and as soon as I went over the middle (of the field), that's just something that I needed," McMillan said when discussing his first catch on Thursday.
Now that McMillan is back in action, he'll likely continue to be coddled for a couple of weeks. The Bucs have a plethora of strong receivers begging for targets, so this won't hinder the offense one bit. Even if it did, quarterback Baker Mayfield has been subpar this season, despite playoff hopes being on the line every week.
Once McMillan returns to full go, it'll be interesting to see the domino effect amongst the receivers. Evans may retire after this season, but Godwin, Egbuka, and Johnson are here for the long haul.
Down the stretch, McMillan may be underutilized for preservation, but he's still a key piece moving forward.
Exiting this injury debacle, Bucs fans may have many questions. Why wasn't Bowles transparent? How is McMillan playing this season?
The Bucs love keeping injury news close to their chest, but it's odd not sharing the severity of McMillan's near career ending injury sooner. Bowles only mentioned the fracture in an interview weeks after the incident, not to mention other injury updates he doesn't discuss.
Many questions still need answering, but Bucs fans are thankful McMillan is back in action this season, even if he should have taken the year to heal.