Mike Evans carted off the field after suffering scary injury vs. Lions

The absolute last thing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed was an injury to another key player, which is exactly what happened in the first half of Week 7. Making matters worse, it was Mike Evans who suffered the injury, needing to be helped off the field after hitting the ground had on what should have been a huge catch in the second quarter.

It was initially unclear what the injury was, as everyone's mind went right to his hamstring. Evans was making his return to the lineup after having been out since Week 3 after needing to leave that game early as well.

This time around, things were a little more scary.

Evans hit the deck hard on a pass that he initially seemed to have reeled in, but the impact with the ground caused it to come loose. It wasn't impact with the ball, though, rather Evans' head hit the turf hard and he came down awkwardly on his shoulder.

So while initial fears about his hamstring having been re-injured were jsutified, they were unfounded. Unfortunately that's because Evans suffered both a concussion and a shoulder injury on the play that forced him to be ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The scariest part about the injury was how woozy Evans looked. He was on the field motionless and remained on the ground for several minutes. There was no reassuring jog to the sideline or any indication that he'd shake off whatever happened -- Evans looked completely out of it.

Evans was in such rough shape on the sideline that he needed to be carted back to the Buccaneers' locker room.

The good news is that the schedule lines up for Evans to take a break if he needs to miss some time. Tampa Bay gets a soft game against the 1-6 Saints next week and then have their bye week, so Evans won't really be needed until Week 10.

The bad news is the schedule tightens up real hard at that point, with the Bucs playing three straight games against the Patriots, Bills and Rams -- all games that could flip the playoff picture and matchups the Bucs will need to be at their best in to stave off another midseason slump.