The first three quarters of Sunday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints haven’t gone well on either the results or health front for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Saints — 11.5-point underdogs — took a 6-0 lead into halftime. And the Buccaneers have lost three extremely important offensive players for the rest of the game to injuries.
Wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin each exited with leg injuries and have been ruled out for the game.
Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin have both been declared OUT for the remainder of the game.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) December 20, 2021
Evans suffered a hamstring injury, while Godwin suffered a knee injury that looked very painful.
Here is the Chris Godwin injury. pic.twitter.com/gvovpuEU9i
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) December 20, 2021
And in the third quarter, the Bucs announced that running back Leonard Fournette is out for the remainder of the game with a hamstring injury.
Buccaneers RB Leonard Fournette is OUT for the remainder of today's game (hamstring).
— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) December 20, 2021
So, this is rough news for Tom Brady and the Bucs, and their receiver depth is particularly in shambles at the moment.
Losing these players for the rest of the Saints game is one thing, but the Bucs (who entered this game with a record of 10-3) really don’t want Evans, Godwin, and Fournette missing too much time in Tampa Bay’s quest to defend their Super Bowl title.
Tampa Bay is at least expected to get back Antonio Brown in Week 16, with his three-game suspension coming to an end.
