When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers used a first-round pick to add Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka to an already-loaded position in April, visions of an unstoppable four-wide of the newcomer, 2024 rookie breakout Jalen McMillan and franchise stars Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were immediately generated. Unfortunately, a long string of injuries to the Buccaneers' receiving corps have kept that vision from being realized in 2025.
Until now.
On Wednesday, the Buccaneers activated Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan from injured reserve, making both available to play on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons. Evans and McMillan are both questionable on the injury report for the game, but if they suit up it will mark the first time that those two, Godwin and Egbuka are active for the same game.
To make room on the 53-man roster for the return of Evans and McMillan, the Buccaneers waived defensive lineman C.J. Brewer and wide receiver Ryan Miller.
Evans, who is the Buccaneers' all-time leader in virtually every receiving category, is back after missing six games due to a fractured collarbone sustained in Detroit in Week Seven. He also missed three games earlier in the season with a hamstring strain, which happened to coincide exactly with Godwin's return to action after sitting out the first three contests. Godwin also missed five midseason games with a fibula injury. McMillan sustained a neck injury in the second game of the preseason and has been on injured reserve since the start of the regular season.
In his limited playing time in 2025, Evans has secured 14 receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown. His career totals include 850 receptions for 12,824 yards and 106 touchdowns and he is the first player in NFL history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first 11 seasons. Evans ranks 10th in NFL history in touchdown receptions and has made six Pro Bowls, including the last two.
McMillan was a third-round pick out of Washington in 2024 and after a slow start to his rookie campaign due to injuries he caught fire down the stretch, finishing with 37 catches for 461 yards. Most of that came during the last five weeks, when he surpassed 50 receiving yards in every game and led all NFL players in that span with seven touchdown receptions.
In the prolonged absences of both Godwin and Evans, Egbuka quickly emerged as the team's number-one receiver and he ranks second among all NFL rookies with 54 receptions for 806 yards and six touchdowns. In his own limited playing time, Godwin has contributed 16 catches for 194 yards, including 133 yards over the past two contets. He is second on the Bucs' all-time charts to Evans in receptions (595), receiving yards (7,460) and touchdown catches (39).
Evans and McMillan are the second and third players to return to the Bucs' active roster from injured reserve, joining tackle Luke Goedeke in Week 10. NFL teams are allowed eight such activations in a season.
