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Bucs receiving corp beset by injuries
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Eduardo Encina, Tampa Bay Times, published 30 September 2019
Already one wide receiver down, the Bucs couldn't afford to lose another, especially Mike Evans.
But as the Bucs battled into the second half Sunday on the road trying to preserve a lead over the Los Angeles Rams, the sight of Evans disappearing into the Bucs locker room to get his right hand evaluated was one that had to make both Tampa Bay fans and fantasy football owners cringe.
The Bucs were holding an eight-point lead in the third quarter and had third-and-10 at the Rams 40. Hit as he threw, quarterback Jameis Winston wobbled a pass high into the air over the middle of the field that drew a crowd of Rams defensive back underneath it.
Evans threw his hand in the scrum to deflect it, and after the pass fell incomplete, he emerged holding his right hand in obvious pain. He retreated to the visiting locker room at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with trainers, but shortly returned to the field and into action.
Evans then caught a 67-yard touchdown pass from Jameis Winston early in the fourth quarter, beating his defender deep over the middle, jogging along the goal line before going into the end zone. The 67-yard catch was the third-longest of Evans’s career.
The injury to Evans came after Breshad Perriman left after his first and only target of the game with a hamstring injury. Winston couldn’t connect with Perriman on a short out pass on second-and-7 on the second play of the Bucs’ second offensive drive, and then immediately went to the sideline. Shortly after, the Bucs announced that Perriman was out with a hamstring injury.
Perriman was on the injury report with a quadriceps injury, and was a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday before practicing fully on Friday. The offseason free-agent signing entered the game with just three catches on the season. He is averaging just 5.3 yards per catch, far below his career 15 yard per catch average. The Bucs have carried six receivers for the second straight week and they needed them. Both Justin Watson and Bobo Wilson recorded their first catches of the season.
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