Last week against the Redskins, Mike Evans put together one of the best games of his career. He caught eight passes, all of which were first downs, and finished the day with 164 receiving yards and a touchdown. His 164 yards were the most of any receiver in the NFL during Week 7 and the second-most he's earned in his career.
On Sunday, he could find himself matched up with one of the NFL's top cornerbacks, Desmond Trufant, for most of the day. Trufant is rated by Pro Football Focus as the NFL's fifth-best corner and the Falcons' best defender.
Projected starters for the Falcons as listed on team depth chart.
"He's a really good player," Evans said of Trufant, "one of the better corners I've been against in my short career. He's real quick, very savvy and super fast. Both corners are really fast. I've got to match him with my physicality."
Trufant isn't the only Falcons defensive back playing well, though. PFF has given six of the team's DBs positive grades through seven games.
"They've got some good corners," Evans said. "They've got two really good corners. They're a good defense. They're 6-1, it's a division opponent. They're tough, they play hard. We're familiar with them though. We know what they're going to bring. We've got to execute."
READ: FALCONS SCOUTING REPORT
The Bucs will be short-handed at wide receiver Sunday after Louis Murphy tore his ACL in last weekend's game. Vincent Jackson was also injured on Sunday and has been unable to practice so far this week.
If Jackson is out, Evans will undoubtedly command some extra attention from Atlanta's defensive backs. That doesn't mean he'll have two defenders on him, though.
"We don't know for sure if I'll get double-teamed or not," Evans said. "The Falcons don't show that they'll double anybody. They think they've got corners that can match up with anyone, so we'll see how that goes."
Evans had success against Atlanta during his rookie season; he caught 11 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown in two games against the Falcons in 2014.
