Bucs WR Evans: “We’re Not Panicking At All” About Offense

The Bucs are in a good place in the standings with a 2-1 record atop of the NFC South. They’re defense is in an even greater place as one of the top units in the league. The offense, however, has struggled  early on to put points on the board.

There was a time last season where the Bucs were averaging 30 points per game and getting to that number was commonplace. This year hasn’t exactly been the case. Offensively, the Bucs have scored 19, 13, and 12 points in their respective. They’ve scored three touchdowns all season compared to the defense tallying one.

Tampa Bay has scored on 28.6 of their offensive possessions through three games. That’s the fourth lowest in the league. Additionally, they’ve yet to reach in the end zone in the first half of games. Is this a cause for concern? To team captain Mike Evans, no one is worried so far.

“We’re not panicking at all,” Evans said on Thursday. “We don’t know what people are saying, but we know [that] three touchdowns in three games is not good enough. We can do that in one half or one quarter. It’s early in the season, we’re 2-1. What are we, first in the division right now? Tied for first or something like that? We’re in a good spot. We know we’ve just got to get healthy and we’ve got to do better – clean up the little things, be better, [clean up] the penalties and the execution. We’ll be fine.”

You have to look at little deeper to see what the issues are. A huge part of it has been that the Bucs are missing their best players at wide receiver. Evans was suspended for last week’s 14-12 loss to the Packers and Chris Godwin and Julio Jones haven’t played since week one.

Help could be on the horizon, though. Evans will be back this week, and both Godwin and Jones participated in practice.

“We definitely want to be as healthy as possible because we have a really talented roster,” Evans said. “When we’re healthy, we’re tough to beat. It’s good to get everybody back healthy.”

This his has caused fourth, fifth and sixth stringers to play in the top roles. Even Cole Beasley, who had just three practices with the Bucs, was put into action for key plays. Red zone efficiency has been another problem for the Bucs, but all those factors played into the missing production.

“I think it’s just a combination of not being healthy and execution,” Evans said. “We’ve got to execute better, no matter who’s in there. We’ve got to get healthy so we can have our top guys in there.”

Bucs Evans Speaks On Suspension

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

We’ve moved on from the altercation between the Bucs and Saints in Week 2 that got Evans suspended. But since this was our first opportunity to talk to Evans since the occasion, he was asked about it. Evans talked about needing to be there for his team, he really could’ve used him the following week.

“I’ve got to be smart [for] my team,” Evans said. “This is my second time being suspended for an incident like this – I can’t let it happen again. I’ve got to be better for my team. I felt like I could have helped us win last week. It was hard to watch that, but I just tried to be as positive as possible. I got to spend time with my family, got to rest and heal all the way up. I’m feeling fresh, that’s a positive.”