We are only in the second week of the 2022 NFL season, and team injury reports are already getting quite lengthy. From a fantasy perspective, no team had a more concerning injury report than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What is the latest on the Mike Evans injury, as well as Chris Godwin, Julio Jones, and the rest of the Bucs’ receivers?
Bucs wide receivers’ injury status
Injuries are, by far, the worst part of fantasy football. Much like 16-year-old me playing Madden, I wish we could just turn them off. Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work that way. There are way too many fantasy-relevant players whose injury status is up in the air heading into Week 2. The entire Bucs’ wide receiver corps is among them.
No. Seriously. The entire wide receiver room. All of them. They are all injured. I’ve never seen anything like this. Okay, I probably have, but I just don’t remember. I digress.
Wednesday’s practice report featured injury designations for Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones, Russell Gage, and Breshad Perriman. Leonard Fournette was on there, too.
Consider this your one-stop spot for all things Bucs wide receivers. Who is actually hurt? How bad are these injuries? And who do we think plays on Sunday against the Saints?
Mike Evans injury status
Let’s start with the most important guy and work our way back. Evans was conspicuously in-and-out of last Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys. No injury was reported, but it was clear something was up after Evans’ snap count finished at just 73%.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported Evans was dealing with a calf injury that she believes “sounds relatively minor.” Evans was limited at Wednesday’s practice, and I have no concerns over his availability for Sunday’s bout with the Saints, barring a setback on Thursday or Friday.
Chris Godwin’s injury status
While it’s unfortunate that Godwin is hurt, at the very least, his absence from practice was no surprise. Godwin strained his hamstring last Sunday night. Shortly after the game, reports came out that Godwin was likely to miss multiple games.
On the bright side, Godwin’s injury isn’t believed to be as serious as initially thought. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported there’s optimism it’s not a major injury.
It sounds as if Godwin avoided disaster, but fantasy managers are still going to have to find a replacement for the immediate future. Hopefully, you already have that replacement on your roster, as anyone who drafted Godwin wasn’t expecting him to be ready for Week 1 anyway.
Julio Jones’ injury status
Whereas Godwin and Evans were clearly dealing with something in-game, Jones looked perfectly fine. In fact, he looked better than fine. Jones looked like a guy with a gas tank not quite empty. It was quite the surprise to see Jones appear on Wednesday’s injury report with a knee issue.
It’s natural to fear the worst with any sort of injury, especially ones that result in DNPs on the practice report. However, I’m not overly concerned with this one.
There was no indication anything serious happened to Julio’s knee. It’s a Wednesday practice. Jones is 33 years old. He doesn’t need to practice and the Bucs don’t need to push him if he’s even slightly less than 100%.
My guess is this is just a maintenance day for an old veteran, and we see Jones return to at least a limited practice on Thursday. That would put him on track to play this Sunday against the Saints, where Jones would be a strong WR3 with CB Marshon Lattimore on Evans, and Godwin on the sidelines.
Russell Gage injury status
In another surprise, Gage didn’t practice Wednesday, either. He’s dealing with a hamstring issue of his own. Given that Gage is more of an ancillary player, we don’t have much information to go on.
Gage played just 42% of the snaps last week and only saw two targets. With Godwin out, Gage will likely operate as the team’s primary slot receiver and be out there in three-receiver sets. If he plays, he’s a bit more intriguing sans Godwin but hard to trust following last week’s usage.
Breshad Perriman injury status
Normally, I wouldn’t bother with discussing Breshad Perriman, as he’s the team’s WR5. But given all the injuries, Perriman matters if he finds himself elevated into the WR2 or WR3 role.
Perriman was limited at Wednesday’s practice with a knee issue. There isn’t any additional information on that, but the limited tag suggests he will be fine.
Fantasy managers need only concern themselves with Perriman if two of Evans, Jones, and Gage don’t play. Should that end up being the case, Perriman could be a desperation Flex play.
How should fantasy managers handle the Bucs’ wide receivers this week?
Auman asked Todd Bowles if he had any concerns at receiver other than Godwin. Bowles said he did not. If we read between the lines here, it sounds like the team is just managing reps and being extra careful with their players.
Look for Evans and Perriman to continue getting in at least limited practices and for Jones and Gage to return to practice on Thursday in some capacity.
Assuming everyone but Godwin plays, Evans should be started as a WR1 and Jones as a WR3. In deeper leagues, Gage is worth a look as a WR4.
I am not going to get into what happens if certain players don’t play. There are just too many permutations, and it’s too early in the week. Once we know more after Thursday’s practice, we can start to formulate stronger opinions on how to proceed.
Check out our Week 2 rankings, which will be updated once we have a clearer picture of how this week is shaping up.
