Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans left the Monday night’s 24-9 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in the first half. Evans was tackled hard, went down on the field, and didn’t get up immediately.
After Evans made it to the Tampa Bay sidelines, he was helped by Buccaneers medical personnel. But the star wideout had to be carted back to the Tampa Bay locker room and didn’t return. At the time, it was reported that Evans suffered a concussion and a shoulder injury. But the news got much worse after the game.
Mike Evans Injury Update
After the game, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that Evans suffered a broken clavicle. While the initial reports stated that Evans would be out for most or all of the season, Tampa Bay got some good news on Wednesday.
Testing revealed that Evans suffered a clean break, so the Buccaneers are now expecting him to return in “eight weeks or less,” according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. This would mean that Evans can return by December and be back to 100% for the playoffs, which is huge for a Buccaneers team that’s looking to contend.
This lines up with the recent report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz, who also provided an optimistic update on Evans’ return timeline. “The initial timeline for Bucs WR Mike Evans’ broken clavicle injury is 6–8 weeks, per sources,” Schultz wrote on X. “There’s hope he’ll be able to return before the end of the season.”
Losing Evans at this point for the Buccaneers might send them out to pick up another wide receiver on the market. One potential option for Tampa Bay might be veteran wide receiver Tyler Lockett, who got his request accepted to be released from the Tennessee Titans.
Lockett played most of his NFL career for the Seattle Seahawks before joining the Titans this season. With the Titans off to a bad start in the 2025 NFL season, Lockett probably did not figure in the team’s plans at this time. The Atlanta Falcons also released Ray-Ray McCloud this week, who is an intriguing depth piece and returner.
Entering Monday night’s game, which ended in a loss, the Buccaneers’ offense had an 82.2 Offense Impact Score and was ranked 10th in the league, according to the PFSN NFL Offense Impact metrics.
For the season, Evans had 14 catches for 140 yards and one touchdown. The Buccaneers drafted Evans out of Texas A&M in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Evans has played all 12 of his NFL seasons with Tampa Bay. He has 850 catches for 12,824 yards and 106 touchdowns in his career. Evans has averaged 15.1 yards per catch in his career, too.
While Evans’ 1,000-yard streak has come to an end and he won’t get a chance to break Jerry Rice’s record that he has currently tied. He is the first player in NFL history to open his career with 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons — no one else in league history has more than six in a row. Had he done so again in 2025, it would have broken Rice’s record for most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in NFL history.
While that’s a tough pill to swallow, at least it’s looking like he’ll get a chance to return this season and help Tampa Bay’s playoff run.
