After dropping their fourth game in the last five weeks this past Sunday, the Buccaneers could use some help in getting this season back on track.
They might receive a significant set of reinforcements on Thursday night. Receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan could both potentially return to the field for Tampa Bay's Week 15 showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, head coach Todd Bowles indicated on Wednesday.
Evans has not played since Week 7 due to a broken collarbone and has only participated in four games in the 2025 season, leaving Baker Mayfield without his best and most-trusted target for the majority of the campaign. McMillan, meanwhile, hasn't played at all due to a preseason neck injury that has prevented him from participating since the summer.
Both were limited participants in practice all week and are listed as questionable to play against Atlanta. Bowles added that Evans has shown everything needed for the Bucs to activate him before Thursday's game, per FOX Sports.
"They looked good. They looked fresh," Bowles told reporters on Wednesday. "They ran great routes. Looked like they never left. Obviously, they haven't been hit or anything yet but they looked good in practice."
Tampa Bay activated both Evans and McMillan off injured reserve later on Wednesday.
Mayfield has found ways to manage the situation, leaning heavily on rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka early in the campaign, but even with the contributions of Egbuka, fellow rookie Tez Johnson and veteran Sterling Shepard, it has been undoubtedly challenging to produce without Evans, running mate Chris Godwin and McMillan for the majority of the year.
The toll of such absences has started to show in the last month, a span in which the Buccaneers fell to three playoff teams (New England, Buffalo and the Los Angeles Rams), narrowly defeated the Arizona Cardinals and lost a shocker to the division-rival Saints this past week. Godwin has participated in the last three contests and led the Bucs in receiving in their most recent two games but has shown clear signs of rust, dropping a precise bullet from Mayfield in the end zone in Week 13.
With one month of games remaining and the Buccaneers (7-6) locked into a battle with the Carolina Panthers (7-6) for the NFC South crown, now is the time for the key contributors to make an effort to return.
