During the first quarter of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 2 preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, wide receiver Jalen McMillan suffered a scary neck injury after a big catch. Here’s the latest on the sophomore and his status.
What Happened to Jalen McMillan?
While coming down with a big catch from backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, McMillan was hit and landed on his head. He immediately seemed to be in pain after the somersault fall.
Scary moment for Bucs WR Jalen McMillan. Makes a terrific catch but gets hit and lands right on his head.
Thankfully he would jog off on his own power🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/1LhjytmHWM
— Kenny Morales (@KennyMoralesTV) August 16, 2025
After staying down for a minute, he was able to walk off on his own. However, later on, McMillan was carted back to the locker room. On the broadcast, he was seen giving a thumbs up, so the hope is that this injury is nothing serious.
The Buccaneers announced that McMillan suffered a back injury and was also evaluated for a concussion. McMillan did not return to the game, and after the contest, he was spotted leaving the stadium in a neck brace.
Bucs WR Jalen McMillan enters the locker room after the game wearing a neck brace. pic.twitter.com/rv6FRrGgIY
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 17, 2025
The sophomore wide receiver is coming off a terrific rookie season in which he caught 37 passes for 461 yards and eight touchdowns. He stepped up in a major way after Chris Godwin suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle against the Baltimore Ravens, catching seven TDs over his final five games.
Jalen McMillan’s 2025 Fantasy Outlook
McMillan flashed at times last season, particularly toward the end of the season, and this is a profile to be interested in for dynasty purposes. However, given the competition for targets, his redraft value in 2025 was limited at best even when at full strength.
What this injury does do is open up a clear 20%-ish target share for Emeka Egbuka, a rookie receiver with all of the tools you could ask for. Mike Evans is going to continue to earn high-value targets and that’ll sap some of Egbuka’s upside, but the raw ability figures to shine and this injury could open more chances right away. Godwin’s status remains a question, but the potency of this offense, even sans Liam Coen, is not.
Bucky Irving is a star that is being drafted as such and Evans’ status is Father Time-proof until we see signs of aging. As the WR injuries pile up, Baker Mayfield’s weekly floor lowers a bit, but the ceiling remains high enough to keep him in the QB1 conversation.
Egbuka’s path to an elite route count gets clearer if this injury lingers and that makes him a very viable option at his current cost. Regardless of the seriousness of this injury, McMillan himself was always going to be a tough sell in redraft formats.
