The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had two good pieces of news at their Saturday practice ahead of the Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions on Monday night.
Both wide receivers Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka returned to practice Saturday. Egbuka had sat out the previous two sessions, while Evans was downgraded on Friday after a limited practice on Thursday.
Evans and Egbuka, who are dealing with a hamstring issue, were limited on Saturday, which gives them hope to play.
However, head coach Todd Bowles listed both players as game-time decisions for the Monday night contest against Detroit, which obviously means neither one is certain to play.
ESPN's Adam Schefter adds that if Egbuka doesn't play this week, he's expected to have a shot to play in Week 8. The same can clearly be said about Evans if he doesn't suit up this week given his how close he is for Week 7.
"And Mike Evans, who practiced today, also is considered a pre-game decision, though it sounds like there is more hope for him than Emeka Egbuka. Even if Egbuka doesn’t play Monday night, he is expected to have a chance to play next week at New Orleans before the Buccaneers’ bye," Schefter wrote.
One thing that helps Evans' and Egbuka's chances of playing this week is the game being on Monday night. That gives the Bucs wide receivers an extra day to get right before kickoff.
Evans has missed each of the last three games with his hamstring injury, while Egbuka suffered his injury last week and was expected to sit out.
Ultimately, if we had to guess, we'd say Egbuka sits out and Evans plays.
We'll know for sure when the Bucs drop their list of inactives an hour and a half before kickoff on Monday night.
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