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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost both star wide receivers — Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — in a 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football,” with Godwin suffering what coach Todd Bowles said was a dislocated left ankle and Evans sustaining a right hamstring injury.
Bowles said he was waiting for further details on Evans but that “it [didn’t] look good” for Godwin, who was met by several teammates in the training room after the game.
“Our prayers go out to him,” Bowles said of Godwin. “Chris is a hell of a player and a hell of a human being. Not much you can say. You feel bad for him, and unfortunately, they’re not going to cancel the games. We got to step up and move on. But our hearts are heavy.”
With 1:04 left in regulation, Godwin caught a pass from Mayfield and was tackled from behind by inside linebacker Roquan Smith, with Godwin’s left ankle appearing to get caught beneath Smith.
Several teammates were visibly shaken as Godwin remained on his knees and was quickly attended to by the training staff. Quarterback Baker Mayfield turned away, knelt down and put his head into his hands.
“This absolutely sucks,” Mayfield said. “Yeah, it sucks for our team, but Chris deserves better than that. He’s an unbelievable guy. An unbelievable teammate. Obviously, you guys have seen — he’s played extraordinary this year. Got a heavy heart right now.”
The entire Buccaneers bench cleared and gathered as Godwin was helped onto an injury cart, as chants of “Godwin! Godwin!” broke out along with a standing ovation.
Godwin and Evans were tied for a league-leading five touchdowns apiece through the first six weeks of the season heading into this game, with Mayfield calling them a “huge heartbeat of this team.”
Bowles defended keeping Godwin and other starters in the game despite it being out of reach with two onside kicks already attempted and no timeouts remaining, saying, “We don’t second-guess,” and pointing to the fact that the team was already without Evans.
“I do protect my players all the time,” Bowles said. “That has nothing to do with why we left him in this ballgame. We still had a shot to score some points and win this ballgame. It happens. It happens in football.”
Mayfield had no objection to remaining in the game.
“We talked about it on the sideline, thinking, ‘If we get a quick touchdown — obviously already got an onside kick during the game — get a quick touchdown, an onside kick, have a possibility for a Hail Mary,” he said. “We have a group of fighters. We all wanted a chance to try and win that thing any way, some way, somehow.”
Evans had entered the game with a hamstring strain but was determined to play. He caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield on the opening drive, making him just the 11th player in NFL history to reach 100 receiving touchdowns.
But in the second quarter, Mayfield attempted to find Evans in the end zone on a 25-yard go route against Brandon Stephens, and Evans couldn’t hang onto the pass. Evans fell to the ground and grabbed the back of his leg while writhing in pain.
Evans remained on the field for several seconds as trainers and teammates gathered around him. He was able to walk off the field with Bucs vice president of sports medicine and performance Bobby Slater but limped significantly as he entered the tunnel to a standing ovation.
Evans missed two days of practice this week with the injury, which coach Todd Bowles described earlier in the week as a lingering injury versus an acute one. The wideout was able to practice Friday in a limited capacity and carried no injury designation heading into Monday night’s game, where he was honored with a message on the videoboard commemorating his scoring achievement in the first quarter.
Evans and Godwin sit No. 1 and 2 for the Bucs in all-time receiving yards. Evans had hoped to tie Jerry Rice this season for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons after recording 10 in his first 10 campaigns. Up until this point, Evans has only missed nine regular-season games, with just seven due to injury or illness.
But for Godwin, this is the second major career-threatening injury he has dealt with, having torn an ACL and an MCL in Week 15 of the 2021 season. Godwin said he finally felt like he was back to his old self this summer, and several teammates and coaches took notice too.
“I’m sick about it,” tight end Cade Otton said of his injured teammates. “We talk about great guys and great leaders and great players. It sucks. It’s the terrible part about this job, but we have to come together for them and play better and win games and just carry on like they would.”
As outside linebacker YaYa Diaby said of Godwin, “He was having such an amazing year, and for a guy like that … we need him on this offense. And then for Mike — we need him, as well. You know, I don’t know what the story is, but I hope he can get well.”
The 4-3 Bucs now must face their biggest divisional obstacle this weekend when they host the Atlanta Falcons (also 4-3) in a rematch of a Week 5 overtime heartbreaker for Tampa Bay.
“It sucks,” Mayfield said. “Going to be thinking about Chris and Mike for a while here, but going to move forward. This group is going to have to be resilient. Going to have to have guys step up. That’s just the way it is. There is no other way around it. Going to have to look this thing in the face and take it head on.”