Jalen McMillan
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Jalen McMillan's neck injury will place him on IR to begin the season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without wide receiver Jalen McMillan to begin the 2025 regular season. The 23-year-old suffered a neck injury in Week 2 of the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which head coach Todd Bowles described as a “severely strained neck.”
Bowles noted that McMillan will miss “some time,” with reports later coming out that he has the potential to miss the first nine weeks of the regular season. The wideout will begin the year on the injured reserve list, and will have the opportunity to be reinstated.
The injury came against the Steelers on a play where McMillan made an acrobatic catch, but had his legs taken out from under him. His landing on the ground wasn’t pretty, with the crown of the back of his helmet taking the brunt of the force.
Jalen McMillan –
Most likely this one falls under “painful” versus true injury. Hurts to fall from that high and bend like that with impact.Will have to monitor but won’t be surprised if McMillan doesn’t miss much time overall with back discomfort. pic.twitter.com/ZzcENZncxi
— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) August 17, 2025
McMillan was spotted in the tunnel after Saturday’s preseason game wearing a neck brace, but in good spirits. He was in attendance on the sideline of the Buccaneers’ practice field on Tuesday, still wearing a brace.
Mcmillan’s Early Absence Will Hurt
After seemingly breaking out during the last few games of the 2024 season, Jalen McMillan was set to have a big year with a larger role in Tampa Bay’s offense. His success to begin this year caught the attention of his coaching staff, with Bowles claiming he had “a heck of a camp.”
With Chris Godwin also dealing with an injury that will most likely cause him to miss time, McMillan was in line to be leaned on heavily to begin the year. The 23-year-old had a slow start to his rookie year in 2024, but found a connection with quarterback Baker Mayfield late in the season.
Neck injuries are no joke, especially in the NFL, with the potential for career-ending injuries to the neck being seen in recent memory. During last year’s preseason, former Steeler Ryan Watts suffered a neck injury that has kept him off the football field for the last year, with no guarantee that he’ll ever be able to suit up again.
Luckily for McMillan, his injury isn’t on the same scale as Watts’, putting him in a position to come back and contribute before the season is over.
Who Will Replace McMillan’s Production?
Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka remain healthy for the Buccaneers, and project to take up most of the targets to begin the year. But what was previously looked at as one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the NFL is becoming shallower.
Trey Palmer headlines the group of depth, with a combination of youth and experience. The 24-year-old is entering his third year in the system, with 557 yards and four touchdowns across his first 32 career games.
Sterling Shepard has shown he can produce at a high level in the past, but is entering his age-32 season. Seventh-round rookie Tez Johnson should be in the mix as well, entering the league as a 23-year-old with 3,889 yards and 28 touchdowns during his collegiate career.
Fortunately for Tampa Bay, it has a group of depth at wide receiver with a multitude of different skillsets and levels of experience. As long as the group can have a few contributors make an impact while the team deals with multiple injuries, their playoff expectations should remain.