With the pending return of star Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans, it could not come at a better time for an offense that has badly missed his production. Evans will be looking to get back into the swing of things — and perhaps will be involved enough to keep his 1,000-yard streak alive for an eleventh straight season.

It was said earlier this week by head coach Todd Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield that they would not force-feed him the ball, and he cannot be Mayfield’s only consistent target in the passing game. Evans should not be expected to be the only wideout to get open and create separation, and this week against the Giants presents the chance for someone to rise to the occasion and hold down the No. 2 wide receiver spot for the rest of the season.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles: “I Don’t Think You Can Replace Chris [Godwin] With One”

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and WRs Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

Losing Chris Godwin was a significant blow to the Bucs’ passing game, as he was having a career season and more than filling the Cooper Kupp role within offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s offense. Having spent the past month building the gameplan without him, it’s now or never for the remaining cast of wide receivers to audition for a bigger role.

While one player will not replace Godwin’s elite production, each can do things to get involved.

“I think it’s going to be a few guys,” Todd Bowles said. “I don’t think you can replace Chris with one. You’ve got [Sterling] Shepard that can do some things, you’ve got Ryan Miller that can do some things, you’ve got ‘Rock’ (Rakim) Jarrett that can do some things and you’ve got Jalen [McMillan] that can do some things. Between all of them, you kind of move them around and you try to make things happen accordingly to what they’re good at.”

Coen is tasked with moving around the remaining pieces, but he welcomes a big one back into the file with Mike Evans. The play-caller discussed just how much Evans’ return changes things schematically.

At this point, it’s to be determined.

“You know, we just don’t know what his true availability will be if he is [available],” Coen said. “Obviously, we’ll gain some attention from the defense and understand – maybe we’ll get played a little bit similar to how people were playing us when he was going. It’s something that we just need to be ready for, have a plan for. [I] love him. If he’s in there, obviously, we want to be able to get him going. That would be fantastic, but the guys are also ready to go if not.”

Bucs Need WRs To “Be Open As Much As Possible”

Baker Mayfield did his best to find his wide receivers against the 49ers in Week 10, but there just was not much to be found. Mayfield’s leading receiver from that game was Ryan Miller, who had just one catch for 11 receiving yards. That will not cut it on Sunday afternoon facing the Giants.

Bucs WRs Jalen McMillan and Sterling Shepard – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While New York’s pass defense has been lackluster creating takeaways, they have been better in terms of coverage. With uncertainty surrounding Mike Evans, someone needs to step up to allow Mayfield to distribute the football and get into a rhythm.

“I think it’s collaborative, but yeah,” Coen said. “I think the ‘Sheps’ (Sterling Shepard) of the world, the ‘J-Macs’ (Jalen McMillan) of the world, the Trey Palmers, and those guys, the ‘Rocks’ (Rakim Jarrett) of the world – we need them to be open as much as possible.

“That’s the one thing that maybe showed up a little bit last week, was that we’ve just got to win and the timing and the rhythm of, ‘Oh, we have a backup tackle in, and we’re having to chip, and we have to get the ball down the field, but when the ball needs to come out and the timing and the rhythm of the play, we need them open in that timing and rhythm of the play.'”

If one thing is for certain, it’s that Mayfield will have to get the football out quickly as the Giants have a disruptive front seven that has led the way with 36 sacks, the second-most in the league. With left tackle Tristan Wirfs likely out for this game, it makes it imperative to find guys quickly on shorter routes.

Where does that leave Evans?

Bucs OC Liam Coen and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Long known for being one of the best deep-ball threats in the NFL, he could see a different role based on his health and not having Godwin. Coen does not sound like he wants his star wide receiver running long routes as he returns from his hamstring injury, and slotting him in different places could increase his production when he is on the field.

“Maybe a little,” Coen said about whether Evans’ role will change coming back. “It’s just going to be hard to tell with Mike right now in terms of how much is he going to be able to go if he can go. I don’t know. How much do you want to send him all the way down the field on a long route or something because we’re trying to be smart? We want to keep him going now if we get him back.

“I don’t know if it’ll fully change. It helps us, that’s for sure. I know that. I don’t know. That’s a good question. In terms of being able to move him around a little bit more, I think that’s something that we’ve got to do a nice job of as a staff – is he just out at one all the time? Is he in the slot? Is he at two? Is he at three? Being able to move him like we were moving those guys around earlier in the year – that could definitely help us.”

The return of Mike Evans will bring some juice to the Bucs offense, but the unit will still need to squeeze more production from the other wide receivers on the roster. How they are able to involve Evans and Co. will be crucial for the offense to put points on the board and come out with a win in the Big Apple.