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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — Speaking for the first time since suffering a dislocated left ankle in Week 7, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin said Monday night at an event for his foundation that the “best case scenario” would be a return in time for the playoffs, but that he’s focused on taking things “day by day” for now.
“I mean, I think that’s best case scenario, right? Like absolute best case. For all involved. Everything lines up. That’s what you kind of aim for,” said Godwin, who had been leading the NFL with 50 receptions, and whose five touchdowns were tied for third most in the league through the first seven weeks of the season.
Godwin had overcome a season-ending and career-threatening injury before, tearing his ACL and MCL in Week 15 of the 2021 season, making it back in time for Week 1 of 2022. He reached 1,000 receiving yards in 2022 and 2023, but it wasn’t until training camp in 2024 that he said he truly felt like himself again.
“It’s a very different injury and obviously I’ve never been through this before, but I trust the people that I’m going to be working with to help give me back,” said Godwin, who underwent surgery last week. “And the biggest thing for me is make sure that it’s secure, make sure that it’s strong and stable, and I’m not at risk of reinjury. But there’s a lot of stuff in the beginning that you can do to prepare yourself to make an acceleration later in the rehab process, just by doing some of the little things or little extra little things.”
As Godwin was carted off the field a week ago on “Monday Night Football,” he was captured by television cameras telling senior athletic trainer John Ames, “Back to work.” It went viral on social media, with fans praising his presence of mind, calmness and composure despite the gruesome injury that ESPN opted not to show on instant replay.
“I think that’s just who I am, I guess,” Godwin said. “Because that’s where my mind went. I wasn’t focused on why, because it wouldn’t matter if somebody explained it to me, it wouldn’t have mattered. All I could do is control what I could control. And that was going back to work. And obviously I had been through a rehab process already. I never want to go through one of those again, but that’s where we were. So it’s back to work.”
Godwin showed up to his Team Godwin Foundation Gala on Monday night to raise money for animals affected by Hurricane Milton and other natural disasters. He rode in on a mobility scooter wearing a custom suit that featured shorts to accommodate his three-pound split.
“I’m doing well. I think the biggest thing — my spirits are high. Like that’s the hardest thing, during periods like this, whenever you’re injured, because you can’t move, you can’t do what you love, you’re in pain often, a lot of the time, and you have to rebuild yourself,” Godwin said. “So I think that obviously this is the side most people outside of athletes really don’t get to see. And it’s a tough part of it. So trying to keep my spirits high is the biggest thing. And then as the pain goes out and rehab starts, and then the time of really lock in, get back to playing.”
Godwin said that over $15,000 worth of donations poured into his charity from well-wishing fans who were saddened to see his injury, which came on a hip-drop tackle that was banned this offseason.
“Honestly, it really touched my heart,” Godwin said of the donations. “I think that was probably the thing that I was most encouraged by was just the outpour of love. And especially like in that way, because people didn’t have to do that. They didn’t have to take their hard-earned money and donate it to our cause. They could have just said, ‘Get well soon,’ and that would’ve meant the same.
“But it’s really special that people took the time and had the intention to want to help others through our foundation. I’m very grateful for that. Very grateful to be in Tampa and to have the community that I do here. It’s such a great area to be in and times like this really put that in our perspective.”
Over a dozen teammates — Mike Evans, Rakim Jarrett, Ryan Miller, Kameron Johnson, Cade Otton, Anthony Nelson, Jamel Dean, Robert Hainsey, Tristan Wirfs, Ben Bredeson, Luke Goedeke, Justin Skule, Raiqwon O’Neal and Elijah Klein — showed up to support Godwin on Monday night. Several expressed disappointment that they weren’t able to secure a victory for him Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, a game Godwin still managed to attend with his wife Mariah, watching from the stands.
Evans — the Bucs’ other star receiver who is still tied for the league lead with six touchdowns despite suffering a hamstring injury in Week 7 — is not expected to return until after Tampa’s Week 11 bye.
Godwin believes his team will figure things out at 4-4.
“There’s no doubt my mind,” Godwin said. “There’s a bunch of great guys there. They’re smart, they’re capable. It’s like adjustments have to be made, but we got guys that can really step into those roles. … I mean it. I believe it. I see the way that the guys work. I know the intentions of the team. I know the attitude. The grit. We know how the season goes. It can turn around, just like that.”