Head coach Bruce Arians knows that Mike Evans won’t have a Shakespearean debate of “to play or not to play” on a recently-injured knee in his first career playoff game on Saturday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“If he’s 80 percent, we’d have to fight to keep him off the field,” Arians said in Monday’s press conference. “Him at 80 percent is better than a lot of guys at 100, so we’ll see what he is and how he feels. His leadership and his toughness – when Chris [Godwin] was down, there was no way [Evans] was going to stay out. He went out there on one leg and played about three games on one leg and still performed well.”
Evans hyperextended his knee as he slipped on the turf going for a catch in the end zone during the first half of the Bucs’ 44-27 win over Atlanta on Sunday. The star wide receiver’s first playoff game at Washington on Saturday appeared in jeopardy. He had an MRI later in the day that “showed no structural damage” as Arians confirmed in the press conference.
“It was a hyperextension,” Arians added. “I saw him in the training room a little while ago – there’s very, very little swelling and he’ll be day-to-day.”
Arians added that the decision won’t come down to the field conditions at FedEx Field.
“You’re going to play on whatever field they put you on,” Arians said. “You’ve got to fight Mike. If we can go, he won’t (care) about the field. It’s going to be wet, it’s going to be in the high 30s and the ground will be moist, so it’s going to be slick like it always is up north this time of year.”
Additionally, the Bucs will play at night, which hasn’t gone well for them this season at 1-3. Evans will only help an already deep offensive unit against a Washington team eager to take on Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
It’s too big of a stage for Evans to miss if he can go.
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Buccaneers Reveal Plan for Evans vs. Washington