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It would be hard for Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield to be overly disappointed in the recent play of receiver Mike Evans, especially when it comes to dropped passes. There have been plenty of plays on which Mayfield has overthrown Evans, after all, or fellow star receiver Chris Godwin.
Still, the numbers on Evans recently have been worrisome. After starting the season with 297 yards and three touchdowns in the first three games, Evans has had just 89 yards on seven catches the past two weeks. He was targeted only three times against the Saints in Week 4, and had 10 targets in Week 6, but made only four catches.
Evans dropped a pass in that one, his fourth drop of the year.
“First thing I’ll say – I’m not worried about Mike,” Mayfield said this week, via the Buccaneers transcripts. “When it comes to certain drops, you can go the same way with my stuff, certain missed throws. I’m not worried about it. We’ll get it fixed. The physical stuff – we’ll get that corrected. It’s never about hitting the panic button. It’s still instilling confidence.
“The ball is always going to come his way. I’m still going to find ways to get him the ball. And especially Chris [Godwin] obviously – a tough guy for us – he took a few shots for us late in the game. Just continuing to give them chances to make plays on the ball. They’re great players for a reason.”
Mike Evans Ranks 4th in Dropped Passes
Mike Evans has been a bedrock player for the Bucs since arriving in Tampa Bay as a rookie in 2014. He is the most accomplished offensive player in team history, with 10,811 yards receiving and 84 career touchdowns. So when Evans drops passes the way he has this year, it is a concern.
Evans had four drops all of last season, and has never had more than seven in his career. He is on pace for 13.6 drops this season. His 9.8 drop percentage is fourth-worst among NFL receives this season. Evans is not worried about—at least, if he is, he is not saying so.
“That’s football,” Evans said when he met with the media this week. “There’s a lot of unfortunate plays that have happened throughout my career – I’ve got a lot of lowlights, as well. But, it’s football. Those things happen. I had opportunities to get the ball last week – I know I missed the one, but other than that, teams do a good job of game planning against me.”
Todd Bowles: Evans Facing Double Coverage
During the week, coach Todd Bowles was also asked whether Evans’ contract situation might be playing into his recent dropped passes. Evans is slated to be a free agent, and at age 30, he is looking for one more big payday. He gave the organization a deadline of the start of the season to work out a new contract, but no deal was reached.
Bowles downplayed the notion that Evans is putting too much pressure on himself, though.
“Obviously, he’s one of our better guys, so he’s seeing double and triple coverages, so you’ve got to go elsewhere,” Bowles said. “When you’re keying on that and not running it very well, it makes it very easy to double team the guy. We’ve got to do other things to free him and we’ve got to do other things with other people, whether it’s run or pass, to free him up if they’re going to concentrate on him all day.”
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