Bruce Arians Provides Positive Update on Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans
It was a joyous moment inside Raymond James Stadium as Tampa Bay Buccaneers' wide receiver Mike Evans broke an NFL record late in the first quarter Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
Evans became the first player in NFL history with 1,000 or more receiving yards in seven consecutive seasons to begin his career, passing Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, who did it in six straight seasons.
However, disaster struck on the very next play as Evans slipped in the endzone and appeared to hyperextend his left knee on a play that would have resulted in a touchdown catch otherwise. Evans was carted to the locker room and was ruled out.
"It meant the world for him to get that record and then to have an easy touchdown and the turf was really slick in the endzone. Just a freaky thing," head coach Bruce Arians said after the game.
Following the Bucs' 44-27 win over the Falcons, Arians provided some positive news regarding Evans.
"Knock on wood, we don't think there's any serious damage," Arians said about Evans' knee injury. "We'll know more in the next 24 hours."
After undergoing a medical evaluation at the football stadium, Evans was taken to get an MRI on his knee, ESPN's Jenna Laine reported.
Evans entered the game with a team-high 960 receiving yards and 13 touchdown grabs, which ranked fourth in the league.
In Evans' absence, Tampa Bay wide receivers Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin stepped up big time as Brown caught two of Tom Brady's four touchdown passes while Godwin hauled in the other two.
Brown finished with 138 receiving yards and Godwin wasn't far behind with 133 receiving yards. Rob Gronkowski caught two passes for 29 yards as well.
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If Evans is unable to play in next week's wildcard playoff game for the Bucs, Arians is confident in his receivers but understands how hard it would be to fill that void.
"There's no doubt, we've got weapons," Arians said. "Obviously, Mike is special and I kind of put Mike in that Vita (Vea) category, it's going to take two guys to replace him, for sure. if he's not there."
The Bucs had already clinched a spot in the playoffs last week defeating the Detroit Lions 47-7. Despite this, Arians had made it clear earlier in the week that the regular starters would play against the Falcons.
After the game, it was clear Evans, who wears No. 13 for Tampa Bay, was still on the mind of many Buccaneers, including linebacker Kevin Minter.
"It wasn't really difficult at all, it was more so we were doing it for him," Minter said when asked if it was hard to play after Evans got hurt. "We finished this thing for 13."
