Who will Tom Brady be throwing passes to when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday? Following Friday’s injury report, that is highly unclear.
We know that it won’t be Chris Godwin. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1’s victory over the Dallas Cowboys and was officially ruled out on Friday. That same injury report listed fellow receivers Mike Evans, Julio Jones, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman as questionable. For good measure, running back Leonard Fournette is also questionable.
As expected, the #Bucs have ruled out WR Chris Godwin (hamstring) for Sunday against the #Saints, while WRs Mike Evans, Julio Jones, Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman and RB Leonard Fournette are all questionable.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 16, 2022
Football fans had similar reactions to the news, wondering what’s going on in Tampa and who’s going to be catching passes on Sunday.
They might have to convince Gronk to play this week just to have someone to run routes.😵💫 https://t.co/WZjKComsTd
— Sports Stuff Hub LCS (@sportsstuffhub) September 16, 2022
What on Earth is in the water in Tampa Bay? It's Week 2… https://t.co/VSBTbpcgKB
— Logan Franz (@LivingLikeLogan) September 16, 2022
Rachaad White szn? https://t.co/MOrQAWbhvs
— Zach Greubel (@ZachGreubel) September 16, 2022
whole receiving core questionable?? https://t.co/8lxtnZKqvd
— trey (@TreyfromNY) September 16, 2022
Evans caught five passes for 71 yards in Tampa’s Week 1 victory over Dallas, leading the Buccaneers in both categories. He also scored Tampa’s only touchdown. Jones and Godwin caught three passes each, going for 69 and 35 yards, respectively. Gage caught two passes for 13 yards, Fournette had two receptions for 10 yards (and also had 21 carries for 127 yards rushing) while Perriman caught no passes in three targets.
While the Buccaneers had a solid win in Week 1, the offense was not overwhelming. Brady threw for only 212 yards. So, if multiple receivers are out of action in Week 2, it won’t bode well for things getting better. Brady recently acknowledged his poor record against the Saints. This won’t help.
Of course, Godwin is the only receiver that we know will not play. The other four and Fournette are all questionable and it’s unlikely that all would be out of action. But how effective will they be if they do play? That’s another question. At the very least, expectations should be tempered.
[Tom Pelissero on Twitter]
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