The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into Monday night’s contest with the Detroit Lions with a lot of buzz around their surging offense and quarterback Baker Mayfield’s unlikely MVP candidacy. However, Monday was a rude awakening for the Buccaneers.
Star wide receiver Mike Evans’ return was short-lived after he left the game with a torn clavicle that is expected to cost him the majority of his season.
“Bucs HC Todd Bowles says WR Mike Evans suffered a broken clavicle and will miss most of the season,” the NFL reported.
After a game in which the offense struggled mightily both before and after Evans’ exit, Mayfield talked about some frustrations he had with the officiating, although not without taking some ownership for things.
“Some plays could have had illegal contact downfield and some holding calls, but it’s no excuse for the ones that were there and I should have hit them all, so it’s a little give and take,” the quarterback said.
“Third-down defensive holding call that wasn’t called, also still pretty damn confused about the double review,” Mayfield added.
“A lot of things in that game were a little questionable. Lot of frustration at the end,” he said. “But, I work my ass off and put a lot into this game, so when things that I don’t deem fair, I’m going to let somebody know. That’s good, bad, indifferent.”
Now, as the Bucs look to get things back on track on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, both its first and second string quarterbacks have popped up on the injury report, according to one prominent insider around the league.
“Bucs QB Baker Mayfield was officially limited in practice today because of a knee injury. Backup QB Teddy Bridgewater (teeth) did not practice,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Twitter on Wednesday.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Bucs’ arms are ready to go in time for Sunday’s game.