Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans returned to practice on Thursday.

Evans returned to practice on Thursday, suggesting that he has been activated from the reserve/COVID list. He reportedly looked noticeably fatigued running his routes, so perhaps he is still feeling some of the ill effects from his bout with COVID. If active, Evans will be a WR2 option for Week 17.

Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans is already week-to-week with a hamstring injury. But now another reason may keep him off the field for Sunday’s game against the Jets.

Tampa Bay placed Evans on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday.

Some who follow the team felt that Evans was likely going to sit out in Week 17 against the Jets because of the hamstring, and potentially return for Week 18 against Carolina.

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (hamstring) will not play Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers. He did not practice this past week.

Related Players: Tyler Johnson, Scott Miller, Breshad Perriman

The Bucs will be without their two best wideouts Week 16 with Antonio Brown's status still in question. Look for Rob Gronkowski to be the target leader in Tampa's passing attack.

Bucs’ WR Mike Evans has a strained hamstring, is week too week.

Related players: Antonio Brown, Breshad Perriman, Tyler Johnson, Scott Miller

Owners were probably hoping for a better tag when it was revealed the injury wasn't expected to be serious. However Schefter said Evans does have a chance to play in Week 16 so that's at least some good news. With Chris Godwin out for the year, Evans would likely see a big uptick in targets if he plays. Brown is expected back this week, but reports say he'll play about 30-35 snaps in Week 16. Perriman, Johnson and Miller will have to pick up the slack in the passing game.

The MRI came back on WR Chris Godwin and its worse than imagined. He’s out for the year with a torn ACL.

Related players: Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, Breshad Perriman, Tyler Johnson, Scott Miller

Godwin played on the franchise tag this past year and was set to be a free agent. Now, he's out for the season with a long road ahead, Rapoport reminds us. The good news for the Bucs is Evans' hamstring injury isn't supposed to be serious and the team expects to get Brown back for Week 16. According to the Pewter Report, though, HC Bruce Arians says they'll wait and see for how many snaps Brown can play. He's been out since Week 6. The plan is to see how he looks on Wednesday and Thursday and they estimate him for about 30-35 snaps in Week 16, according to the tweet. Perriman is more of a boom or bust, big-play threat, leaving the door open for Johnson and Miller to earn more snaps. The team is also hurt in the passing game with RBs Leonard Fournette and Giovani Bernard out.

The rest of the injuries bear watching, but don't appear to be anything severe.
— Mike Evans’ hamstring should be OK, nothing major.

Related players: Antonio Brown

It's good news for the Bucs who will be without Godwin for the rest of the regular season. It's not clear if Evans will play in Week 16, but the Bucs have an early game Sunday at Carolina so owners will have plenty of time to adjust. The return of Brown should make things a little better for the Tampa offense as well, which got shutout in Week 15 against the Saints.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin, who suffered an MCL sprain, is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, source said.

Related players: Antonio Brown, Mike Evans

With three games left, Injured Reserve makes sense, Rapoport went on to say. Godwin should be able to return for the playoffs, which obviously is most important the tweet pointed out. Brown's return to the team is coming at a key time as he could be the team's top receiving target. Evans' hamstring injury is not as serious but his status for Week 16 is still up in the air. The Bucs have an early Sunday game in Week 16 at Carolina.

Bucs’ HC Bruce Arians on the decision to bring back WR Antonio Brown and S Mike Edwards after they misrepresented their vaccination status: “Yeah, it’s in the best interest of our football team. Both of those guys have served their time and we’ll welcome them back.”

Related players: Chris Godwin, Mike Evans

Those who kept Brown around all this time, through injury and suspension, could be greatly rewarded as we enter the fantasy semifinals and finals. The Bucs lost Evans and Godwin on Sunday night this past week and both could be looking at missing multiple weeks. The team also lost top pass-catching RB Leonard Fournette, so Brown could be in store for a lot of targets over the next few weeks.

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (hamstring) is doubtful and WR Chris Godwin (knee) is questionable to return to Sunday’s game against the Saints. We could continue to see a lot of Leonard Fournette, who already has six catches tonight.

Update: Both have been ruled out for the rest of the game.

Tough news on top of what’s already been a fairly quiet day for the Buccaneers offense, as they trail at the half, 6-0. Godwin was the leading receiver for Tampa in the first half with 49 yards on six catches. Evans has one catch for 14 yards.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans missed Thursday's practice with a back injury.

Evans has missed the first two practices of the week with the back injury, though it should be noted that Wednesday's practice was merely a walkthrough. Evans could still play with no practice due to Bruce Arians being extremely comfortable trusting his veterans and medical staff opinions on game day, but fantasy managers would prefer to see him log at least a limited session on Friday. With Antonio Brown slated to be out at least one more week, the Buccaneers could be down to Chris Godwin, Tyler Johnson, and Scott Miller as their top three receivers for Week 12. This is a situation for fantasy managers to monitor but is one that will likely come down to a game-time decision. Mike Evans is currently our seventh-ranked wide receiver for Week 12.