Baker Mayfield: Getting Mike Evans Back Would Be “Huge”

Evans had 26 catches for 335 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns prior to his injury, and the Buccaneers averaged 29.9 points a game through their first seven outings. That average hasn’t dropped precipitously in the last three games, as the team has averaged 23.3 points in those contests, but that difference is important for a team that has been involved in so many close games. Most notably, while Mayfield and Offensive Coordinator have adjusted impressively to the absences of Evans and Chris Godwin (dislocated ankle), big plays have been hard to find. The Bucs averaged just over four plays of 20-plus yards per game in Weeks One through Eight, but did not generate a single one in the last two games combined.

“We’re driving the ball well but it’s hard to sustain drives when you’re not getting those chunks, and when you’re not cutting the field in half sometimes,” said Mayfield. “We’ve got to try find ways to get explosives, but if those explosive plays aren’t there, check it down and live to play the next down. You’ve just got to be careful with it and always keep the ball in your possession.”

Evans famously is the first player in NFL history to start a career with 10 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He could extend that streak to 11 in 2024, but with seven games remaining would need to average 95 yards a game to get there. That’s certainly possible, especially if there are a couple really big performances mixed in, but there’s no guarantee. And neither Mayfield nor Evans will try to force it, because the priority is to get back to the postseason.

“You guys have been around Mike for long enough now,” said Mayfield. “The streak, yeah, it’s important to us, but he cares about winning. He’s a huge part of this offense when he’s in there, so I think that will come naturally. But I’ve been in a situation where you kind of force-feed the ball to a guy, and that’s not how this offense works, especially. Staying true to reads. The defense dictates where the ball needs to go; when we have our one-on-one matchups with him we need to take advantage of it.”