Tampa Bay likely will be without its star receiver for two months. If it’s any longer, you can kiss postseason dreams goodbye.
Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans cant hold onto this pass and ended up injured while being defended by Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin during the second quarter.
This is the moment Tampa Bay's 2025 season went in doubt. Bucs receiver Mike Evans landed hard on his left shoulder and broke his clavicle after being brought down by Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin.
TAMPA — Mike Evans will eventually recover from his broken clavicle.
But will the 2025 Bucs?
I’m not sure if that’s a riddle or a lament. It’s quite possibly both.
You see, the history of clavicle injuries in the NFL suggests players usually return to the field without career-altering complications. In that sense, it’s not as worrisome as a torn knee ligament or a dislocated ankle. It doesn’t require extensive rehab, and it shouldn’t affect quality of performance. It’s just a question of the severity of the break — which may require surgery — and how long it takes to heal.
Some players have returned in a few weeks; most are out 2-3 months. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said only that Evans would miss most of the season, which suggests a December return is probably the best you could hope for.
And if that comes to pass, the Bucs just might survive the temporary loss of the greatest offensive player in franchise history.
On the analysis scale, that probably falls somewhere between educated guess and wishful thinking. Having already endured the worst part of their 2025 schedule, the Bucs could still win the NFC South even if Evans misses 7-8 games and even if Chris Godwin is slow to come back from his ankle/leg problem.
Tampa Bay has 10 games remaining in the regular season, and I imagine the Bucs will be favored in most of them. Barring further broken bones or torn pec muscles, that is. As long as the Bucs take care of business against the Panthers, Saints, Falcons, Dolphins and Cardinals — which account for seven of those 10 games and have a combined record of 16-32 — a fifth consecutive division title should be theirs.
![As linebacker Lavonte David (54) looks on, Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans (13) is helped off the field after suffering a concussion and broken clavicle during the second quarter of Monday's game in Detroit. Evans is expected to miss most of the rest of the season.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 620 413"/%3E)
As linebacker Lavonte David (54) looks on, Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans (13) is helped off the field after suffering a concussion and broken clavicle during the second quarter of Monday's game in Detroit. Evans is expected to miss most of the rest of the season.
But that’s not the grand prize, is it?
After steadily rebuilding their roster the past two seasons, the Bucs had visions of greater glory in 2025. Maybe a first-round bye, possibly a trip to the NFC Championship Game and, from there, who knows?
And that’s the most worrisome part of the Evans injury.
Because, let’s be honest, the Bucs are not a strong Super Bowl contender without him.
Yes, they beat the Seahawks and 49ers while Evans was sidelined with a hamstring injury, and that’s a pretty impressive achievement. But the Niners were as banged-up as the Bucs, and Seattle is probably a few degrees shy of elite.
Tampa Bay’s two toughest opponents this season have been the Eagles and Lions, and they’ve fallen against both of them with Evans mostly out of the picture.
The Bucs do not have a one-man show on offense, but Evans is one step behind Baker Mayfield in the indispensable department. For more than a decade, he has been their go-to guy in the red zone. He has also been one of the NFL’s most dangerous deep threats for years, and that means opposing defenses must account for him with safeties over the top. Just his presence makes the Bucs a better offense even before he catches a pass.
So losing Evans is not your run-of-the-mill, next-man-up scenario. Nobody on the roster — and few in the NFL — can replicate what he brings to the field, which means offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard will need to adjust his game plan for at least the next two months.
“He’s definitely going to have to do that,” Bowles said Tuesday morning. “But we’ve been doing it the past couple weeks since he’s been out, so it’s kind of the norm right now, unfortunately. When you lose somebody like that, it’s always going to affect your offense, and you’re going to have to change and do different things.”
![Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans (13) draws a pass-interference penalty from Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin Monday in Detroit, resulting in a 23-yard gain. Evans has been one of the NFL’s most dangerous deep threats for years.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 620 413"/%3E)
Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans (13) draws a pass-interference penalty from Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin Monday in Detroit, resulting in a 23-yard gain. Evans has been one of the NFL’s most dangerous deep threats for years.
Again, the Bucs can survive that in the regular season.
But if Evans is sidelined longer than two months, that becomes a problem. He doesn’t need to get 50 snaps a game in December, but it would be advantageous for him to get reacclimated in regular-season games. If he’s sidelined until January, rust could be an issue in the playoffs.
Aaron Rodgers broke his clavicle in 2017 and missed almost exactly two months. In his first game back, he threw three interceptions and Green Bay lost a must-win game. With their playoff hopes dashed, the Packers put Rodgers on the shelf for the rest of the season.
Nick Foles had a similar issue in Jacksonville in 2019. He was out for a little more than two months, came back and played three games before being replaced by Gardner Minshew for the rest of the season. Now, those are both quarterbacks and the bar is probably higher in terms of timing issues, but the concept remains the same.
When it comes to receivers, Christian Kirk broke his clavicle on Oct. 27 last season and the Jaguars shut him down for the rest of the season.
So, yes, there is reason to be concerned. If the injury is more severe than Bowles’ hopeful suggestion, it’s possible we do not see Evans again in 2025.
They say you can’t win a Super Bowl in October, but you can lose one. Here’s hoping that’s not the case.
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