The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver room took another fatal blow on Sunday after losing star wide out Mike Evans for 3-4 weeks due to a strained left hamstring. Evans suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Bucs win over the Jets, an injury the 12 year receiver is no stranger to. Evans and the Bucs learned of the news after he underwent an MRI on Tuesday that then listed the strain on the “mild to moderate” range per sources. Before leaving the game, Evans had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Bucs are bracing for wide receiver Mike Evans to miss 2-3 weeks with his hamstring injury, per sources.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 23, 2025
The injury is not considered as bad as last year’s and Evans plans to work to get back as soon as possible, possibly beating the timeline. pic.twitter.com/WJpwWP5HR5
Evans has dealt with hamstring injuries in the past, missing three games last season and three games in 2019 for a right hamstring strain. This news hurts the Bucs especially since they have already started the first three weeks of the 2025 NFL season without other star wideout Christ Godwin who is recovering from ankle surgery and Jalen McMillan who suffered a neck injury in the Bucs second preseason game earlier this season. McMillan is not scheduled to return to the team until at least the team’s Week 9 bye but Godwin could potentially make his season debut in Week 4 against the 3-0 and defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles this upcoming Sunday in Tampa Bay. When Evans missed time last season, the Bucs went 0-3 which paralleled Godwin's ankle injury.
All attention now turns to rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka who has had a stellar start to his NFL career, who has hauled in 14 catches on 21 targets for 181 yards and three touchdowns, while averaging 12.9 yards per catch. It will be interesting to see how Egbuka’s production changes as he is now the clear cut wide receiver one in that offense forcing defenses to revert their attention to him rather than Mike Evans. The one major problem with a hamstring injury is the nagging ailments it can cause a player even after they are deemed fully healthy by the medical staff.
The Buccaneers have started the season 3-0 with every win coming on the final drive of the game. While this may seem daunting to most NFL fans, this now seems to be even more unsustainable now that Evans will be missing a potential month of the season. The weight on quarterback Baker Mayfield’s shoulders has not gotten even heavier and time will only tell if he can continue his late game heroics with his favorite target on the sidelines.
