With Bucs training camp quickly approaching the PewterReport.com staff asks – and answers – 15 critical camp questions that need to be answered this August as Tampa Bay prepares to embark on the 2019 season. Over the next 15 days PewterReport.com will offer up its thoughts on the topics that the Bucs will need to sort out in order for the team to be successful this season and possibly compete for a long-awaited playoff berth.

These are the things that the PewterReport.com staff will be following closely in camp, and invite our readers to share their thoughts as well in the comment section.

Will FS Justin Evans Be Healthy Enough To Start The Season?

Yes, Justin Evans will be ready to start the regular season. Now will Evans be healthy enough to start training camp or start the first preseason game? Time will tell, and we’ll know in just over a week.

According to head coach Bruce Arians at the conclusion of the Bucs’ mini-camp, all players were expected to be healthy by the start of training camp with the exception of outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul, who suffered a serious neck injury from a May car crash. That means players like Evans, tight end Cameron Brate, interior offensive lineman Evan Smith and linebacker Jack Cichy, who all missed the entire offseason rehabbing injuries, are expected to be healthy and ready to participate in camp by July 25, which is the day of physical examinations. Evans missed the mini-camps and OTAs due to a heel injury on his left foot that had him in a walking boot at the end of the team’s mandatory mini-camp.

That injury is different from the toe injury that he suffered last year that caused him to miss six games toward the end of the 2018 season. A sprained toe on his right foot caused him to prematurely end his second season on injured reserve. Evans had 59 tackles, two passes defensed and one interception after posting 66 tackles, six passes defensed and three interceptions during his rookie season after being drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Bucs FS Justin Evans – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Evans started the 2018 campaign with a bang, scooping up a fumble and scoring a touchdown in a Week 1 victory at New Orleans. But Evans wasn’t used properly in Mike Smith’s defense and was lined too far off the ball to make plays last year.

That will change in Todd Bowles’ aggressive 3-4 scheme, which features plenty of man coverage – something that Evans excels at when healthy. Provided Evans can stay on his feet in training camp the 6-foot, 199-pounder is once again expected to start at free safety for the Bucs. Tampa Bay added Kentrell Brice and Orion Stewart in free agency during the offseason, but both are expected to be reserves along with Isaiah Johnson, while rookie Mike Edwards, the team’s third-round pick, and second-year safety Jordan Whitehead battle it out for strong safety.

Both Arians and Bowles have praised Evans’ cerebral qualities and his playmaking ability from the film they’ve seen. In order for Evans to realize his potential as a former second-rounder he needs to stay healthy and prove that his toe injury is behind him and that his heel surgery has fully healed.

Now that there is online gambling in Pennsylvania, one of those betting services would probably take a wager on whether Evans will be healthy or not by the end of July. Regardless of whether or not he’s ready by July 25, Evans should be ready for the start of the 2019 regular season, which is seven weeks away.