Seeing Mike Evans lying on the ground in the back of the end zone and then limping off with a hamstring injury was tough enough. When Tampa Bay’s other top receiver, Chris Godwin, went down in the final minute of a 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the night became even more disappointing for the Buccaneers.
“Got a heavy heart right now,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “It’s never something you want to see happen to any of your guys.”
Evans left the game early after catching a 25-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield, making him the 11th player in NFL history to have at least 100 touchdown receptions in a career.
He also joined Hall of Famers Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, and Terrell Owens as the only players to reach 100 in their first 11 seasons.
Godwin injured his left ankle late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach, prompting coach Todd Bowles to explain why Godwin—who was having the best start of his career—was still on the field. Especially with Evans already dealing with what Bowles described last week as a lingering injury.
“He’s a player. We’re trying to win the ballgame. We were still down 10, we’re trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick,” Bowles said. “It just happened. With Mike (Evans) going down, we didn’t have that many receivers left, so we play with what we got.”
Evans, who missed two days of practice last week, seemed to make his injury worse on the touchdown catch.
Mayfield almost threw to him again in the end zone during the second quarter, but this time the ball slipped off Evans’ hands as he and Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens fell to the ground.
Evans stayed on the ground for several minutes before getting helped up and limping to the locker room. Mayfield said he can’t recall ever being part of a team that lost two players in the same game who are as important as Godwin and Evans are to the Bucs.
“Definitely not two of the guys that are the huge heartbeat of this team,” the quarterback said.
“But like I said, we have to find a way. … We’re going to be playing for first place in the division next week at home against Atlanta,” Mayfield added. “Got to have guys step up. That’s just the way it is. There’s no other way around it.”
