The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been one of the more banged-up teams in the NFL this season, and that has been especially true on the offensive side of the ball.
Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (fibula) and Bucky Irving (foot, shoulder) have all missed time, and now rookie Emeka Egbuka (hamstring) looks set to be the next key offensive player in Tampa Bay to miss time.
At practice on Thursday, The Tampa Bay Times' Rick Stroud revealed that Egbuka, Godwin and Irving were all absent, which now puts them on track to miss Week 7 against the Detroit Lions on Monday night.
"Probably buried the obvious but no Emeka Egbuka, Bucky Irving or Chris Godwin today," Stroud wrote.
If there's any glimmer of hope for the trio, it's that the Bucs play on Monday night, so Egbuka, Godwin and Irving all have an extra day.
The good news for the Bucs is that Evans returned to practice on Thursday, which now puts him on track to return following a three-game absence.
The updates on Egbuka, Godwin and Irving come as no surprise.
Head coach Todd Bowles already revealed Godwin and Irving are "not in play" for Week 7, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport revealed that Egbuka is expected to miss time, also.
"My understanding is that it's not quite as serious as say Mike Evans, but he is expected to miss some time," Rapoport said of Egbuka.
Last week, the Bucs leaned heavily on Kameron Johnson, Sterling Shepard, Cade Otton and Tez Johnson after Egbuka exited early, so expect that again. Evans will obviously serve as Baker Mayfield's No. 1 target and should get all he can handle when it comes to targets.
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