Mike Evans Thought He Could Have Played Better
December 17th, 2025
Mike Evans said he played “OK.”
We all (Joe assumes) saw the video of Mike Evans crashing out at the end of Thursday night’s gutless loss, hollering “Third and 28!”
And maybe 5-10 seconds after the end of the video, Joe was in the tunnel just outside the Bucs locker room and Joe saw Evans doubled-over in anguish, hollering, “This is mother#$%&*# bull*&^%!”
He wasn’t wrong.
Maybe because he has high standards or maybe because he is a team guy (like Baker Mayfield) but Evans suggested Bucs fans should not be blaming the defense for choking a 14-point lead away.
Evans said he could have done more to help build a bigger lead, to put the game out of reach.
“I did all right, but there were a few more plays I could have made,” Evans said. “We lost the game as a team.
“I was extra emotional my first game back. … You know, it was just third-and-28. That was the last thing that happened.”
One reason Evans was so emotional is he wasn’t sure he’d be playing again this season after suffering a broken clavicle in Detroit.
“I was super excited to be back and help the team,” Evans said. “I thought the game was going to be taken away. I thought I was gonna be done for the season.
“Did I have a good game? I had an OK game, you know, yardage wise, I did alright.”
Only a Hall of Fame player would say 132 yards on six catches in his first game back from the first major injury of his 12-year career would be “alright.”
December 17th, 2025 at 4:56 pm
True warrior! GO ME13! Tear the Panthers apart this week.
December 17th, 2025 at 4:57 pm
G.O.A.T!
December 17th, 2025 at 5:10 pm
The vast majority of games we’ve lost since Baker has been here have been games where Mike wasn’t on the field. It’s easy to see why. And Mike is playing, and talking(walking the walk, talking the talk) like he’s prepping for the playoffs. Can’t get much better than that.
December 17th, 2025 at 5:18 pm
Gonna miss this guy when he decides to hang it up! True professional and GREAT person!!! Our GOAT!
December 17th, 2025 at 5:53 pm
It’s M1k3 people. Let’s respect him enough to get that right! Let’s go Mike!
December 17th, 2025 at 5:59 pm
Mike is so humble. He had a fantastic game, especially since just coming back from a major injury. Go Bucs, win it all!
December 17th, 2025 at 6:01 pm
Mikes got a hire standard for play than us observers, you know he wanted to score. Getting all those targets, knowing Davante Adam’s has had some time to pull away while Mike was injured, on top of this not being a 1,000 yard season. What? Y’all know the type of competitor Mike is, he’s been hear long enough to see the edge he brings.
December 17th, 2025 at 6:02 pm
Great player…Hey get us a 22 point lead in to the 4th qtr. I doubt even Bowzo camn blow that.
December 17th, 2025 at 6:18 pm
One of the greatest players to ever wear a Buccaneers uniform.
December 17th, 2025 at 6:20 pm
If the rest of the team played with the inner emotion and intensity as Evans and Mayfield we would have easily won the last two games.
December 17th, 2025 at 8:57 pm
Mike’s not satisfied and wants to play better, that’s how HOF players think. Too many guys on this team don’t have that mentality and they need to raise their standards.
December 17th, 2025 at 9:10 pm
Just watched the painful all-22. 3 of Mike’s 6 snags could ONLY have been caught by him. Baker chucks it up there like an alley oop on NBA 2k
December 17th, 2025 at 11:16 pm
@Beej I haven’t even seen the game yet but I plan on watching the all 22. Working graveyard I haven’t found the time yet.
December 18th, 2025 at 12:09 am
The best way for the Bucs to make Mike shine is to go 60-40 run and spread the snaps evenly rather than overloading the least productive guy who is coming back from injuries (Irving).
Make the opposing D load up the box to stop the RBs.
Use exotic motion, play action and RPOs so that the defense is never sure what is coming.
Make Mike the decoy – breaking immediately across the middle, hanging back in a bunch in a screen look, or isolated and bursting into the first five steps of a shimmy-go.
“Ignore” Mike and mix it up time and again until Evans ends up with a coverage mismatch or can run to daylight.