The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been hoping to take that next step toward becoming a potential Super Bowl contender. However, injuries have ravaged their roster to open the 2025 season. Unfortunately, things got a whole lot worse for the franchise as they faced the New York Jets in Week 3.
Already dealing with injuries to the likes of Chris Godwin and Tristan Wirfs, the fourth quarter saw superstar wide receiver Mike Evans come off the field hobbling. It has immediately sent the fan base into a panic, with no clear indication of how bad the situation was.
What Happened to Mike Eans?
With a commanding 23-13 lead, it seemed like it was going to be smooth sailing for the Buccaneers, as they registered their third win of the season. However, trying to enhance the lead, Evans ran a route.
Immediately, though, he came up hobbling, as he was taken off the field. Visibly upset on the sideline, fans caught the veteran looking visibly frustrated with the situation. As one fan noted, “Prayers up to Mike Evans, he was visibly frustrated and hit a cooler.”
Prayers up to Mike Evans, he was visibly frustrated and hit a cooler pic.twitter.com/omLa3dTyXp
— FleaFlickerrFootball (@fleaflickerr) September 21, 2025
Soon after, the Buccaneers made it official with a post on X that confirmed, “WR Mike Evans (Hamstring) is QUESTIONABLE to return.”
Mike Evans injurypic.twitter.com/tASybXFcWV https://t.co/i1DkBjRqs0
— Pick 6 Pack (@Pick6PackFB) September 21, 2025
One of the most prolific receivers in the NFL, his injury would be a major blow for the Bucs, who are already without Chris Godwin and have Emeka Egbuka reeling from injuries. For the time being, they were able to etch out a win even without Evans in the lineup.
For the third consecutive game, Baker Mayfield led Tampa Bay down the field to a victory, this time courtesy of a last-second field goal.
With a history of hamstring injuries that caused him to miss spurts of games in 2021 and last season as well, the Buccaneers have to be hoping that this ailment does not turn out to be a long-term hinderance.
What Evans’ Injury Means for Fantasy?
The Bucs came into this game banged up already. Egbuka got in just a single limited practice due to hip and groin injuries. They’re already missing Chris Godwin. Now, Evans is almost certainly going to miss time.
If there’s any consolation, it’s that before this week’s game, we got a report that Godwin has a good chance to make his debut in Week 4. The odds of that happening probably just increased. Given the nature of Evans’ injury and how quickly he knew he was done, it’s hard to imagine him playing next week.
In a scenario where Evans and Godwin both cannot play, Sterling Shepard would serve as the WR2 opposite Egbuka. He would be a desperation streaming option in deep leagues.
