Thursday night saw a sight for sore eyes, as Mike Evans took the field for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time since Week 7. That's when he broke his collarbone in a loss to the Lions, a game that started an otherwise uninterupted donward trajectory for the Bucs after a hot start to the season.
It was a bummer for more reasons than fans cared to count. Evans' pursuit of breaking Jerry Rice's all-time record for consecutive 1,000 yard seasons essentially ended that night, but so too did the offense's good vibes.
Without Evans the Bucs lost three of their next four games and have fallen into a slump that allowed the Panthers to tie them for the NFC South lead.
Thankfully, Evans returned in Week 15 against the Falcons, as miraculous as his recovery was, but also made everyone's heart stop for all the wrong reasons.
Mike Evans took a scary fall in his first game back from a broken clavicle
In the first half, Evans took a nasty fall while leaping to catch a pass from Baker Mayfield. It was a textbook hospital ball, and Evans paid the price when Cobee Bryant got under him and flipped him backward.
Evans landed on his neck and was shaken up right after. He walked off the field under his own power, but it was the last thing anyone wanted to see.
That's a scary fall for someone who just broke their collarbone. #Bucs WR Mike Evans got up and went to the sidelines-- seemed frustrated as if he tweaked something: pic.twitter.com/Vx82s4627Y
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 12, 2025
Keep in mind, this guy is playing after breaking his collarbone less than two months ago. There's no way it's fully healed, and to take that sort of hit couldn't have felt good even without the nasty nature of how it all went down.
Thankfully Evans was alright and returned to the game. Not only that but he turned in a highlight reel play to let everyone know that he was alright.
JUST THROW IT UP TO MIKE EVANS
— NFL (@NFL) December 12, 2025
ATLvsTB on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/7ITOth9q84
Evans is essential to the Buccaneers' offense, which was again evident while he was out. Even with guys like Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin, the Bucs have struggled to find a rythym, and that's something we've seen over the last few years regardless of the offensive coordinator.
Dave Canales struggled to get a groove when Evans wasn't involved, and so did Liam Coen. Josh Grizzard has been up against it all season dealing with injuries so to have Evans back and turning in highlight reel plays is a sight for sore eyes.