Buccaneers WR Mike Evans avoids structural damage to knee, could play vs Washington

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got some good news Monday as an MRI showed that there was no structural damage to wide receiver Mike Evans’ knee.

Evans got knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons after injuring his knee, and there was concern that the injury might force him to miss the Bucs’ playoff game against the Washington Football Team on Saturday night.

Head coach Bruce Arians announced that Evans had only hyperextended his knee and is day-to-day.

Arians (mostly) off the hook

Arians must have felt extra relieved after hearing the good news about Evans’ knee because it would have been his fault if Evans was injured for the playoffs. The Bucs had a postseason spot locked up, but Arians played his starters instead of protecting them for wild-card weekend, saying that they were playing for the “pride” of a higher seed.

If Evans’ injury was serious, Arians would have lost him because he decided that a higher wild-card seed was more important than resting his key players before the team’s first playoff appearance since 2008.

Evans is day-to-day, so there’s no guarantee that he’ll play against Washington. However, Arians said that it will be nearly impossible to stop Evans from playing if he’s even remotely close to full strength.

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