Team news: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Liam Coen’s offense, which is loaded with principles from his four seasons with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, was always going to take time to implement with the Jaguars. Before the season, a source with knowledge of the system predicted it would take at least half the year before Trevor Lawrence felt comfortable, and that his trajectory might not truly begin to soar until 2026. Considering Coen’s success in 2024 with quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with the impression he left with two seasons at Kentucky, there was confidence Lawrence’s progress would be worth the wait.

The author pointed out the trend up may carry right through 2026 before we see the final result. It will be worth nothing for fantasy owners who may already be looking ahead to next season's draft rankings. Lawrence is very likely to climb QB ranks heading into drafts next summer. The story pointed out the trade for Jakobi Meyers and the return of TE Brenton Strange has helped everyone in the offense, even Brian Thomas Jr. who has mostly struggled this season. While the Jags are not dominating the run game, the author said the commitment to the run and the balance have helped the offense. Lawrence is also being used as a designed runner.

From Tampa: Mike Evans good to go tonight. Won’t play every down but will be in on the key ones.

OL Graham Barton said Evans was juiced up all week to make his return

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin

Fowler followed up by saying he was told Evans will "probably not play every snap", as he'll be on a bit of a pitch count. We should take this to mean that Evans will be back on the sideline if Tampa Bay has a comfortable lead, so that could cap his ceiling in fantasy. Consider him more of a WR3, but we could see better upside in the following two contests.

Bowles said Mike Evans has shown everything he needed to show in practice to get activated and make his return Thursday vs. Falcons.

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin

Good timing for the Bucs as Egbuka has struggled a bit as of late, so all three of their top options hitting the field is a nice boost for Baker Mayfield. With that said, Auman followed up this tweet by saying, "I'd think they're careful with him, but they need to win the game, so the scoreboard will have a say in it too."

We should take this to mean that Evans will be back on the sideline if Tampa Bay has a comfortable lead, so that could cap his ceiling in fantasy. Consider him more of a WR3, but we could see better upside in the following two contests.

Mike Evans has now opened the week with back-to-back limited tags on the team's injury report, and he'll look to be a full participant at Wednesday's final session before Week 15.

Evans is looking to return from a broken collarbone and put the Bucs at full strength on offense for the first time since Week 4. We'll update his status from Wednesday's injury report ahead of Thursday's game.

The Buccaneers are leaving the door open for three offensive players to return to action against the Falcons on Thursday night.

Head coach Todd Bowles said at a Monday press conference that wide receiver Mike Evans, left tackle Tristan Wirfs and wide receiver Jalen McMillan are “in play” to be in the lineup in Week 15.

Related players: Baker Mayfield, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka

Evans and McMillan both returned to practice last week and will need to be activated from injured reserve to play in the game. Evans has been out since fracturing his clavicle in Week 7 while McMillan has missed the entire season with a neck injury, the story points out. It will be more weapons for Mayfield heading down the stretch of the season and for the fantasy playoffs. The top three should remain Evans, Godwin and Edbuka but Edbuka hasn't posted more than 45 receiving yards since Week 10.

Todd Bowles says Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan are out for Sunday. Making progress but not there yet.

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Tez Johnson

It seemed like Week 14 would be a pretty quick turnaround for both wide receivers who just had their 21-day practice windows opened, but it's still a good sign for their return, potentially as early as Week 15. For now, continue to consider Egbuka as a high-end WR2, while Godwin is more of a WR3.

Sources: Bucs legendary WR Mike Evans is having his practice window opened off IR, and he’ll return to practice today. A quicker than expected return from a broken clavicle, Evans has been medically cleared.

So Jalen McMillan and Evans practice today.

Related Players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin

We'll see what kind of immediate impact these two could have for your fantasy squads, but it's clearly a boost for Baker Mayfield if/when these two hit the field. We wouldn't expect either to suit up for Week 14, but we'll keep an eye on things to see how they'll be deployed if they play before the fantasy season wraps up.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles said “it's a possibility” that Mike Evans could return to practice this week.

Related players: Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson, Sterling Shepard

The Bucs are slowly getting their weapons back on offense as Godwin was more involved this past week. The team also saw the return of running back Bucky Irving. Evans broke his collarbone in Week 7. Evans' return would put the Bucs at full strength at WR with Egbuka and Godwin forming the team's top-three. Evans' return would also hurt the fantasy value of Johnson and Shepard.

Todd Bowles on Bucky Irving’s usage Sunday: "We'll put him in. Once he gets in, we'll see how he is rolling, and then between him, Rachaad White and Sean Tucker, we'll kind of go with the hot hand."

We'd like to say Bucky Irving will return to his typical 25-opportunity upside, but it was mentioned that he may be eased in, as the team did with Chris Godwin. If that's the case, he's closer to a low-end RB2 than a locked-in RB1 like we came into the season hoping. Tucker and White are more desperation-FLEX options.

Coach Todd Bowles says Baker Mayfield looked good today and trending to start vs. Cardinals.

Related Players: Teddy Bridgewater

Mayfield looked well on his way to an inactive designation this weekend, but things have flipped for the better over the course of the week. If he does end up seeing the field, he's in fringe QB1/2 range against a good Arizona defense.