As the New Orleans Saints take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend, and this time they may have to face Mike Evans. When these two teams faced off a few weeks ago, Evans was absent due to a broken collarbone he suffered the week before.
To the surprise many, Evans is back on the practice field this week. The Buccaneers opened up his practice window this week. This doesn't guarantee the wide receiver will play in this week's matchup, but it provides the possibility that wasn't there over the last month.
This is by far the most banged up Evans has been in a season. His previous season low was 13 games played. Evans has missed the last five games with this collarbone injury and missed three games earlier this season. At best, he's in line to play nine games if he suits up on Sunday.
Saints should expect the Buccaneers to force feed Mike Evans
The passing attack wasn't much of a factor for the Buccaneers in their first win versus the Saints, and it didn't need to. Tampa Bay won by 20 points, and Baker Mayfield only threw for 152 yards. Emeka Egbuka only caught three of his nine targets for 35 yards. Even with that, the Buccaneers still won by 20 points.
There was two plays in which Evans' absence was notable. Mayfield threw two passes at Kool-Aid McKinstry in goal to go situations. The targets were Egbuka and Sterling Shepherd. McKinstry had those guys plastered each time, but those passes look a lot different if you're throwing to a big receiver. That's where Evans would have come into play to make it a much harder throw to defend.
If Evans does play, expect Mayfield to force feed Evans the ball. Evans' claim to fame is his streak of 11 consecutive seasons with 1000 receiving yards to start his career. He tied Jerry Rice's record last year, but Evans is 860 yards away from breaking the record with five games left.
To hit 1000, Evans needs to average 172 yards per game. It's a long shot and extremely unlikely, but it's just within reach enough to try. Evans' success would also likely mean success for the Buccaneers offense. It's kind of a win win for Tampa Bay.