After three straight losses the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are hoping to bounce back and set the vibes right heading into the team’s bye week. The Bucs got out to another hot start this season, but just like lasty year they’ve run into a wall and are staring down an abyss that threatens to throw their season off track.
To be fair, this has been by far the toughest stretch of the Bucs’ schedule and they’ve needed to navigate the entire gauntlet without the help of Mike Evans. Back in the first half of a Monday Night Football loss to the Ravens, Evans suffered a hamstring injury and hasn’t played since.
Adding to the complications was the fact that Tampa Bay lost wide receiver Chris Godwin not long after, but unlike Evans he’s not going to return this season. There was hope that Evans would be able to be healthy for this Sunday’s game against the 49ers but Baker Mayfield will have to try and keep things together without him for at least one more week.
So far that’s not been as difficult as we imagined it would be. While Evans undeniably makes the offense better, the Bucs haven’t taken too much of a step back without him healthy. That’s a testament to the job offensive coordinator Liam Coen has done to hold things together, and it gives fans confidence that all is not as lost as it seemed.
Full inactives list for Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10 vs. 49ers
While Evans is out, the good news is that he’s the only player who showed up on teh injury list this week who won’t be playing. Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving gave everyone a scare but it turns out they’ll be good to go against San Francisco.
Of course, the biggest name that popped up on the injury report this week is on the other side of the field and he’ll be suiting up for the firs time this season. Christian McCaffrey has missed every game so far this season after being ruled out ahead of the Niners Week 1 win over the Jets, and the Bucs got the unlucky draw of being the team he makes his season debut against.
Player | Position | Injury |
|---|---|---|
Mike Evans | WR | Hamstring |
Tykee Smith | S | Concussion |
Jose Ramirez | LB | Healthy Scratch |
Antonio Grier Jr. | LB | Healthy Scratch |
Royce Newman | OL | Healthy Scratch |
Devin Culp | TE | Healthy Scratch |
Earnest Brown IV | DL | Healthy Scratch |
This is as healthy as the Bucs have been all season, although some key players are still missing. In addition to Godwin, both Jamel Dean and SirVocea Dennis are on IR and won’t be playing. That puts even more pressure on one of the league’s worst secondaries to try and stop Brock Purdy and his array of weapons.
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