For the first time since Week Three of the 2022 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play a game without the services of both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the top two leading receivers in franchise history. Actually, they'll play more than one game under those circumstances; Godwin is on injured reserve and not expected back this season due to a significant ankle injury, while Evans is not likely to play until after Tampa Bay's Week 11 bye.
Through the first seven weeks of the 2024 campaign, that duo had combined to provide nearly half of the team's receiving yards while scoring 11 of its 18 passing touchdowns. It's a formula that was working for the team as a whole; the Buccaneers currently rank fourth in the NFL in scoring, fifth in total yards, seventh in passing yards, first in third-down success rate and second in first downs per game.
To keep up that sort of offensive success, the Buccaneers will have to find a new formula, one that puts more responsibility for production on such wide receivers as rookie Jalen McMillan, second-year man Trey Palmer, veteran Sterling Shepard and Ryan Miller, who was just called up from the practice squad. Baker Mayfield, who leads the NFL with those 18 touchdown passes, believes those players can make it work.
"I'll be extremely confident in those guys," said Mayfield, as the Bucs prepare for a key divisional matchup with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. "Obviously, I have rapport with Trey going back to last year, Sterling for years obviously and Jalen all offseason and training camp. I expect those guys to have success and play really well. Throughout the week, [we will be] getting on the same page within the game plan as we continue to nail this thing down. We expect everybody to step up in a big way, [while] still leaning on our offensive line. I thought they played great, obviously the past few weeks they've played really well, and the backs have continued to play well. It's going to be a full group effort. It's going to look different, but that's okay. You know what? It will be a little bit more creative and we'll have some fun with it."
If the Bucs' offense looks a little different in structure going forward, it certainly will have some aspects that their opponents won't be able to study beforehand, particularly this first week against the Falcons.
"As we're getting this game plan going, looking at obviously not having Mike and Chris, team's can't exactly play to those tendencies when we're game planning with those guys," Mayfield noted. "It will look different, but everybody's just got to do their part. Everybody's got to be dialed in, and next man up."
Evans only practiced a small amount last week as he nursed the hamstring injury that he eventually aggravated in the game, but he still caught a 25-yard touchdown pass on the game's first drive and nearly had another one on the play in which he was hurt. Mayfield and Evans don't necessarily need a lot of reps together during the week to be on the same page on Sundays, but that's not yet the case with a young receiver like McMillan. That means a little extra work this week to make sure everybody is on the same page against the Falcons.
"It's a little bit of a combination of everything, just talking a little bit extra about the details within the schemes, and then we do get the live reps this week making sure we get it down," said Mayfield. "And if we need to take an extra rep after practice, making sure we do that. The constant communication – obviously him being a rookie and [me] understanding where Mike and Chris are, and just understanding their body language. You know, I'm still learning that with Jalen but I expect him to play well and be in the right spot at the right time."
Mayfield does have a well-established connection with Shepard, dating back to their one shared season at Oklahoma. That was Shepard's most productive college campaign, as he caught 86 passes for 1,288 yards an 11 touchdowns in 13 games. Shepard spent his first eight NFL seasons with the New York Giants before signing with the Buccaneers in June, a move that definitely got a stamp of approval from Mayfield.
"I have a lot of trust in Sterling," he said. "It's been like that forever. It's always good to have a deep receiver room. It's a long year, things happen, so you have to have these guys step up in a big way. You don't want to ask them to do too much. Stay within yourself. It's not like they have to replace Mike and Chris. It's going to be a group effort, and go from there. But yeah, I trust Sterling a lot."
