Without injuries factored in, Monday night’s Buccaneers-Lions matchup would reside as one of the league’s top games during the first half the season. Tampa Bay is 5-1 despite a slew of maladies on offense, while Detroit is 4-2 amid more injury trouble on the defensive side.
One positional duel Monday presents a fascinating setup, however. The Bucs are heading into Week 7 decimated at wide receiver, while the Lions just faced the Chiefs without five of their top six cornerbacks. Although Tampa Bay held on against a San Francisco team that lost Fred Warner midgame, Detroit’s depleted secondary could not contain Kansas City’s depleted passing attack.
Some advanced looks at the Bucs and Lions’ rosters will be required ahead of this game, as a wave of backups will be involved when Baker Mayfield looks to pass. The team’s receiver situation absorbed two more blows over the past several days. Chris Godwin‘s fibula injury will almost definitely keep him out of Week 7, with Todd Bowles indicating (h/t WTSP’s Evan Closky) neither Godwin nor Bucky Irving is expected to be ready for the Lions tilt. Emeka Egbuka‘s explosive start has also hit a roadblock.
The hamstring injury the first-round pick suffered in Week 6 is likely to keep him out for Week 7, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport said during a Rich Eisen Show appearance. Though, some good news has come out of the Egbuka storyline. The Bucs do not view this hamstring issue as one that will sideline the rookie for as long as Mike Evans has been shelved by his. Evans has missed the past three games. Egbuka has proven a quick study, hauling in 27 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns.
Evans has not been ruled out yet; his status could determine how deep Bucs and Lions fans’ research efforts will need to be. The Bucs finished Sunday’s 49ers matchup with Sterling Shepard — who has stabilized his career after years of injury-plagued Giants seasons — to go with seventh-round rookie Tez Johnson and second-year UDFA Kameron Johnson. This trio will be needed again, perhaps even if Evans is deemed ready to return. They will face a Lions team that has D.J. Reed and backups Khalil Dorsey and Ennis Rakestraw on IR, with Terrion Arnold and Avonte Maddox having missed the Chiefs game.
Tampa Bay’s receiver stable stood as one of the NFL’s deepest position groups entering OTAs, as it was not known Godwin would need to miss games after his 2024 ankle dislocation. During preseason play, however, Jalen McMillan suffered a neck injury and landed on IR. The 2024 third-round pick remains in a brace, according to Fox Sports’ Greg Auman, but has not experienced a setback. A December return remains the target, Auman adds.
Subbing for Godwin last season, McMillan finished the year on a tear by catching seven touchdown passes over the Bucs’ final five regular-season games. McMillan still has a ways to go on his recovery path, but the Bucs will likely hold one of their injury activations for him. The second-year player represents a wild card of sorts, especially with Shepard still in the mix as an auxiliary piece accompanying Evans, Egbuka and Godwin (presuming he returns from this fibula issue).
Irving remains out with a foot sprain and a shoulder injury later revealed to be a subluxation. The Bucs have not used IR for Irving, Evans, Egbuka or Godwin. This will mark back-to-back absences for Godwin, who needed nearly a year to recover from his ankle injury before sustaining this fibula setback, and three straight for Irving. Rachaad White has made this a notable part of his contract year, while third-year UDFA Sean Tucker sits as the current backup.