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Jenna Laine, ESPN staff writer
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost either of their famous big receivers, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, in a 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football,” with Godwin struggling for what the conference caller Todd Bowles said he dislocated his left ankle and Evans suffered a hamstring concussion.
Bowles said he was waiting for more details about Evans, but that “it’s [didn’t] look good” for Godwin, whom he once met through several teammates in the training room after sports.
“Our prayers are with him,” Bowles said of Godwin. “Chris is a great player and a great human being. There’s not much you can say. You feel bad for him and, unfortunately, they’re not going to cancel the games. We have to step up and move on. But our hearts are saddened.”
With 1:04 left in the half, Godwin made a Baker Mayfield move and was tackled from behind inside linebacker Roquan Smith, with Godwin’s left ankle showing that it became trapped underneath Smith.
Several teammates were visibly shaken as Godwin remained on his knees and was temporarily cared for by the staff learning team. Mayfield walked away, knelt down and put his head in his palms.
“This absolutely sucks,” Mayfield said. “Yes, it sucks for our team, but Chris deserves better than that. He’s an incredible guy. An incredible teammate. Obviously, you guys have seen him, he’s played outstanding this year. I have a big heart right now.”
The entire Buccaneers bench was cleared and picked up when they once helped Godwin into a bumper car, while chants of “Godwin! Godwin!” penniless next to a status ovation.
Godwin and Evans entered the league’s governing team with five landing receptions in Tampa Bay’s first six games, and Mayfield called them “a big heartbeat of this team.”
Bowles defended keeping Godwin and other starters in the game despite being unsuccessful with two already tried onside kicks and excessive timeouts at odds, saying, “We don’t hesitate” and pointing to the fact that the team was a once without Evans.
“I protect my players all the time,” Bowles said. “That has nothing to do with why we left it in this game. We still had a chance to score some points and win this game. It happens. It happens in football.”
“This absolutely sucks. Yes, it sucks for our team, but Chris deserves better than that. He’s an incredible guy. An incredible teammate. Obviously, you guys have seen him, he’s played extraordinary this year. I have a big regret in this moment. ”
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield on Chris Godwin surprise
Mayfield had no objection to excessive play.
“We talked about it on the sideline, thinking, ‘If we get a quick touchdown (we obviously already got an onside kick during the game), we get a quick touchdown, an onside kick, we have a chance for a Hail Mary,” he said. fixed. “We have a group of fighters. We all wanted to have the opportunity to try to win that any way, some way.”
Evans, who entered the game with a hamstring strain but was aiming to play, made a 25-yard landing pass from Mayfield on the opening pressure, making him the 11th player in NFL history to score 100 touchdowns. at reception.
But in the second quarter, Mayfield tried to find Evans in the end zone on a 25-yard line-out to Brandon Stephens, and Evans couldn’t hold on to the play. Evans fell into the garden and clutched the back of his leg as he writhed in pain.
Evans stood in the outfield for a few seconds as the running shoes and his teammates gathered around him. He was ready to walk off the field with Bucs vice president of sports medicine and function Bobby Slater, but limped considerably as he entered the tunnel to a standing ovation.
Evans missed two days of practice this week with the concussion, which conference speaker Todd Bowles described an hour ago as a persistent concussion rather than an acute one. The wide receiver was set to play Friday in a limited capacity and was carrying a surprise disagreement designation heading into Monday night’s game, where he was memorialized with a video board message commemorating his first-quarter scoring achievement. .
Evans and Godwin sit down. Disagree. 1 and 2 for the Bucs in all-time receiving yards. Evans hoped to join Jerry Rice this season in having the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and then recorded 10 in his first 10 seasons. To this point, Evans has only sat out nine regular-season games, and only seven due to an upset or condition.
But for Godwin, this is the second major career-threatening surprise he’s faced, as he tore an ACL and MCL in the 15th of the 2021 season. Godwin said he felt like he was after all. he would have been back to his old self this summer, and many other teammates and coaches noticed too.
“I’m sick of this,” tight end Cade Otton said of his injured teammates. “We talk about great guys, great leaders and great players. It sucks. That’s the terrible part of this job, but we have to rally for them, play better, win games and move forward like they would.”
As outside linebacker YaYa Diaby said of Godwin: “He was having an unbelievable year, and for a guy like that… we need him in this offense. And then for Mike, we need him too.” “I know, I don’t know what the story is, but I hope it gets better.”
The 4-3 Bucs will now have to face their biggest divisional hurdle this weekend after hosting the Atlanta Falcons (also 4-3) in a rematch of a Presen 5 overtime heartbreaker for Tampa Bay.
“It sucks,” Mayfield said. “I’ll be thinking about Chris and Mike for a while here, but we’ll move on. This group is going to have to be resilient. They’re going to have to step up. That’s just the way it is. There’s no other. I’m going to have to look this in the face. and face it head on.”
