Overshadowed.
Bucs receivers this past offseason have gotten a lot of run. And that has really amped up in training camp.
Mike Evans is a Hall of Famer. Some day. He gets run just by being Mike.
Then there is Chris Godwin. No one outside of One Buc Palace knows his progress or when he can just get on a side field and do some running, so he gets a lot of run.
And rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka has been the star of training camp. And it seems Egbuka is the talk of the town.
But what about Jalen McMillan?
With Godwin on the shelf, McMillan is at least the No. 3 receiver. And the way he ended his rookie season balling out with seven touchdowns in the final five regular season games, it’s hard to believe McMillan has been overlooked. But he has.
McMillan entered training camp not just trying to be the same receiver, but better. Bucs coach Todd Bowles said McMillan has learned that he has to attack different cornerbacks in different ways if he expects to get open regularly.
As a result, that has been a huge focus for McMillan: perfecting moves based on the corner he faces on game day.
That has impressed Bowles.
> “He’s been working on a lot of different things in camp and we talked about it,” Bowles said. McMillan is “working on his releases, working on snapping out of his routes, doing different things that he can try against certain corners, whether they’re big corners or small corners.”
Bowles said McMillan’s goal for this training camp demonstrates he is committed to being the best he can be.
> “That shows the progress and maturity for him, understanding to work on his game,” Bowles said. “He’s not just out there running routes. He’s working on something every play.
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> “So, from a mental standpoint, I think he’s had a heck of a camp.”
Joe would term McMillan’s camp performance to be solid to good, but maybe McMillan is shafted by who he is playing with.
Evans may be having his best camp. He’s just on a different level. Egbuka is tearing things up. Compared to them, McMillan looks average. But the guy hauls in just about every pass that is thrown his way.
He makes catches while getting both feet down along the sidelines. He makes catches with dudes all over him.
Short passes, long passes, McMillan grabs them all.
Evans and Egbuka have had such good training camps, it’s almost too easy to forget McMillan has been steady Eddie all camp long.