1 of 5 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans broke his collarbone in the first half of a loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday in Detroit. File Photo by Steve Nesius/UPI | License Photo
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans broke his collarbone and will miss most of the remainder of this season, coach Todd Bowles announced.
Evans sustained the injury — as well as a concussion — in the second quarter of the Buccaneers’ 24-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday in Detroit.
“He has a broken clavicle and will be out mostly toward the end of the year,” Bowles told reporters at his postgame news conference. “We’ll see what happens, but he broke it.”
Evans, who missed his previous three games because of a hamstring injury, failed to haul in any of his four targets Monday. He was injured while trying to bring in a deep pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield about five minutes before halftime.
Evans stretched out his arms and snagged the deep toss before crashing to the ground near the 16-yard line. The ball came loose as he rolled and eventually came to a stop. Evans remained the ground before trainers tended to him and escorted him off the field.
Evans, who also hit his head and on the turf during the play, was then taken away on a cart. The Buccaneers initially ruled him out due to a shoulder injury and concussion.
“It’s never good to see one of your stars go down like that, especially with him just coming back and everybody excited to see him,” Bowles said. “It’s a tough blow, but we’ve been holding it down since he’s been gone. We’ve just gotta regroup and come back.”
With the injury, Evans’ streak of 11-consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards will likely end. He totaled 140 yards and a score on 14 catches through four starts in 2025.
Tight end Cade Otton led the Buccaneers with seven catches for 65 yards against the Lions. Wide receivers Emeka Egbuga and Tez Johnson logged four catches for 58 yards apiece. Johnson hauled in Mayfield’s lone touchdown pass.
Chris Godwin, Ryan Miller, Sterling Shepard and Kameron Johnson are the other wide receivers on the Buccaneers’ roster. Godwin was inactive the last two weeks due to a fibula injury he sustained in Week 5.
The Buccaneers (5-2) will play the New Orleans Saints (1-6) in an NFC South division meeting at 4:05 p.m. EDT Sunday in New Orleans.
