The Buccaneers are fighting the injury bug just like any other NFL team, but on Saturday, they got a positive update regarding two stars that have yet to play in the 2025 season.
According to an ESPN report, both wide receiver Chris Godwin and offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs are expected to make their season debuts with the Buccaneers on Sunday against the Eagles.
Both players were listed as questionable throughout the practice week. Quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was also listed as questionable while dealing with a bicep injury, is expected to play as well.
For Godwin, it will be the first game he’s played since suffering a dislocated ankle in Week 7 of 2024 that required surgery to repair. Wirfs is also coming off of arthroscopic right knee surgery, which he underwent in July. Neither player took part in training camp or preseason with the team.
The reinforcements are coming at a good time for the Buccaneers, who are dealing with several other injuries across the roster. While Godwin will be taking the field, fellow star receiver Mike Evans is currently set to miss three to four weeks due to a strained hamstring, per ESPN. Similarly, Wirfs is retaking his spot in the offensive line amidst a litany of injuries that has forced Tampa Bay to reshuffle its front.
“The boys have played great. They kind of got tossed a s— sandwich and came out swinging,” Wirfs said of his teammates on the offensive line, who have helped the team navigate to a 3–0 record despite many of them playing out of position.
Kickoff against the Eagles is set for 1 p.m. ET in Tampa Bay.
Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears
Evans left Sunday’s contest early with a hamstring injury, something he’s dealt with annually since 2019.
Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury in Week 3. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesBuccaneers receiver Mike Evans left Sunday’s thrilling 29-27 win over the Jets early with a hamstring injury, something he’s dealt with annually since 2019. Fans were worried this would put Evans’s attempt at a 12th straight season of hitting at least 1,000 receiving yards in jeopardy.
Luckily for Tampa Bay, coach Todd Bowles provided a promising update on Evans’s injury when speaking to media on Monday. Although the team doesn’t have the receiver’s official MRI results back as he will undergo that on Tuesday, Bowles deemed Evans’s injury as “low-grade,” meaning he likely won’t be out for a long period of time.
As for Evans’s chance at completing 1,000 yards this season, it should give fans hope that the receiver was able to do so last year after playing in just 14 games. He missed three games with a hamstring injury in 2024.
This is definitely news the Buccaneers needed to hear. The team is already without receiver Chris Godwin until likely Week 5 as he continues to recover from a dislocated ankle he suffered last October.
We’ll see if Evans is available for when the 3-0 Bucs face the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles in Week 4 this Sunday.
