When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the preseason, expectations were that the crowded wide receiver room would be one of the best in the league. That's still largely true, but the Bucs are down a few guys they were counting on being a big part of the plan.
One of the biggest losses was Jalen McMillan. He's been sidelined since Tampa Bay's second preseason game in August with a severe neck injury, and it doesn't sound like he'll be coming back any time soon.
Head coach Todd Bowles gave an update on McMillan's status and didn't have a lot of good news to report.
"Timetable has not changed," Bowles said. "We see him every day. He is doing fine, but we're just walking in the hallway, so I cannot tell you, physically, how he is doing, but he is doing fine."
Jalen McMillan has no timeline for return, which is a giant bummer for the Bucs
Well that's a giant bummer of an update. The chances of hearing something positive about McMillan's status were slim, but this pretty much confirms what every Bucs fan is already thinking in terms of the offense being without McMillan for the long haul.
The upside is that Emeka Egbuka has come out of the gate firing on all the cylinders we hoped he would, and it sounds like Chris Godwin might be closer to returning than we though. Still, that makes the fact that McMillan won't be a part of the plan for the foreseeable future even worse since there seems like he'd have so much potential room to shine.
Egbuka has been penciled into the WR3 role ever since the Bucs used the No. 19 overall pick on him, but that didn't mean McMillan was being pushed out. One of the most exciting things about adding Egbuka was that it gave Tampa Bay an embarrassment of riches at a key offensive position, and the expectation was that McMillan would continue to grow into a meaningful role.
Looking even further down the road, Tampa Bay will eventually need succession plans for Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, something both Egbuka and McMillan make a lot of sense for. We've already seen some serious flashes out of the rookie after his incredible Week 1 debut, and while McMillan was slower to develop last season he started to show promise late in the year.
It's worth pointing out that the longer he's out of the picture, the more time guys like Tez Johnson and Trey Palmer have to potentially challenge him for a top real estate on the depth chart.
Tampa Bay clearly hasn't taken a step back without him -- which may or may not be a good thing for McMillan -- but the sooner the Bucs can get him back, the better off the offense is going to be. It doesn't sound like that's going to be anytime soon, though, which is a massive bummer.
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