It's been almost two months since we last saw Mike Evans take the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that's about to change.
Evans has been out since Week 7 after he broke his clavicle in the loss to Detroit. Things have generally been bad ever since, as the Bucs have gone 2-4 over that span and have fallen from the No. 2 seed in the playoff picture to being in danger of falling behind the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South.
At precisely the right time, Tampa Bay's Superman is about to make his triumphant return. Evans returned to practice last week but wasn't ready to get cleared in time to play on Sunday. The expectation was he would likely return for a critical Week 16 game against the Panthers, but Todd Bowles indicated the timeline has been moved up.
If all goes well over the next 24 hours, Mike Evans will be back with the Bucs for Thursday night's game against the Falcons.
Mike Evans is set to return to Buccaneers for must-win Week 15 game
Bowles said Mike Evans has shown everything he needed to show in practice to get activated and make his return Thursday vs. Falcons.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) December 10, 2025
Buccaneers now have activated WRs Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan from Injured Reserve and both can play Thursday night. pic.twitter.com/1KHiuuJPUQ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 10, 2025
This couldn't be happening at a better time -- or a more desperate one for the Bucs.
Nothing is going right for Tampa Bay, and it's looking increasingly unlikely that the team is going to luck its way out of another midseason slump. Defensively things are a mess thanks to injuries and questionable coaching, which prompted the team to throw a Hail Mary to try and correct course by signing 36-year-old Jason Pierre-Paul.
Getting Evans back isn't nearly on that level of desperation, but it is worth pointing out that he's returning early from an injury that was expected to knock him out until the end of December. Nothing about the rash of injuries the Bucs have suffered this year suggests the medical team has somehow found a way to fix Evans sooner than expected, which means he might be returning at less than 100 percent as a last-ditch effort to help save the season.
What that means is we'd better hope Evans doesn't hurt himself worse with a heroic effort.
Even at less than 100 percent, Evans is still a top receiver in the league. His return also means that for the first time we'll see an offense that has him, Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, and Bucky Irving all on the same field at the same time.
It might have taken until Week 15 and an utterly dire situation to make it happen, but better late than never.
Tampa Bay needs Evans because it needs to win. With the lead on Carolina completely gone, the Bucs have to win on Thursday to keep their season as alive as it needs to be. Winning the next three games means that, despite the turbulence, another NFC South title will have been clinched. That starts on Thursday night, and it's even more possible thanks to the likely return of Evans.