Cade Otton Says He’s Regularly Checking In On Jalen McMillan
August 20th, 2025
Receiver Jalen McMillan and tight end Cade Otton celebrate a McMillan touchdown last season.
It looked so much worse.
When Bucs receiver Jalen McMillan was undercut by Steelers camp meat cornerback Daryl Porter, Joe initially thought he landed on his back and had the wind knocked out of him.
Instead, McMillan landed head-first on the turf of (nee) Heinz Field. He got up and walked off without assistance but the damage was done.
It certainly was a scary moment. And maybe no one at the game (outside of possibly McMillan’s family) was more freaked out than McMillan’s former college teammate, Bucs tight end Cade Otton.
McMillan was at Bucs practice yesterday, albeit still in his neck brace. And yesterday, speaking with the Tampa Bay pen and mic club, Otton wanted to make sure everyone knew McMillan is good, aside from his severely sprained neck.
“That’s always scary when you see a teammate go down like that,” Otton said. “But he’s in good spirits. I’ve been checking on him. Everyone’s been checking on him, and he still has a smile on his face, and he’s determined to get back as soon as he can.
“Obviously our staff is going to take care of him, but it helps us to see Jalen in such good spirits. So super thankful for that.”
That’s good to learn.
Joe breaks out in the shivers, wondering what would have happened if McMillan had landed on that turf just a few inches differently, if Joe is typing a far different story. Maybe a badly sprained neck is a blessing?
Hard to believe that maybe the Bucs’ deepest position is now anything but deep. And Mike Evans hasn’t yet had his annual summer hamstring issue.
August 20th, 2025 at 5:11 am
Prayers up JMc, really glad we got EE, our offense has been pretty solid for years with 2 stud wrs, obviously no team can overcome injuries to certain players, but we still have a lot of firepower left
August 20th, 2025 at 5:32 am
Bowles Blunder effect.
August 20th, 2025 at 5:43 am
Hc Grover, really stupid comment as usual.
August 20th, 2025 at 5:56 am
Trey Palmer really needs to step up. It’s now time for him to shine, put that 4.3 speed to good use and catch every ball that comes his way. 🤞
August 20th, 2025 at 6:14 am
Teddy Hospital should be Bridgewaters new moniker.
August 20th, 2025 at 6:33 am
Our dream season has turned into a nightmare before they even play a game that counts. It’s a Buc’s life.
August 20th, 2025 at 6:56 am
cade was the first teammate to get to him after the injury play and call the medical staff, super good guy otter all this means more catches for him too
August 20th, 2025 at 7:08 am
Bowles had nothing to do with this idiot play by a never-will-be dirty player. The game is to be played within the confines of unwritten rules. Porter apparently isn’t aware you don’t try to ruin a guy’s career to propel your own. Stupid, stupid, stupid. One other point, if Bowles is responsible for this injury, then he is also responsible for Big Red’s destroyed knee a couple seasons back. He wasn’t then and he isn’t now. Be fair with the man. There will be idiots who have no business in a uniform. They’re only trying to make a name for themselves. Porter did…he’s a pariah
August 20th, 2025 at 7:31 am
Cade is such a good guy. So happy to hear that everyone is checking on Jalen and his spirits are up. He has to take care of himself first.
August 20th, 2025 at 7:37 am
Otton gets better every year. He’ll definitely get the ball a lot. Guess Tez makes the team.
August 20th, 2025 at 8:43 am
The injuries pile higher and higher. Add Izien to the miss opening day list. Meanwhile, the Falcons eagerly await us relatively healthy…
August 20th, 2025 at 8:44 am
Cade is the ultimate nice guy. Reminds me of that interview the Bucs media team had with Cam Brate and Baker. They were both asked who the nicest guy on the team was and they both unanimously and without much hesitation said it was definitely Cade Otton. They joked that even though he just had his first baby, he’ll be the best dad of all of them.
August 20th, 2025 at 8:51 am
I think it’s time to work Rachaad White into the wideout rotation he’s better than almost all of those guys we got to choose from. i like Shep more than most though. you just gotta use him right.
August 20th, 2025 at 9:08 am
Miller is not flashy but dependable. Have never seen him drop a pass. Hoping Miller makes the team and keeps contributing on special teams. Between Miller and Trey Palmer, Miller is the keeper.
August 20th, 2025 at 9:35 am
I wonder if this would have happened if trask was in
August 20th, 2025 at 9:42 am
Atlanta press says quietly that the team believes Penix is showing in practice that he will be a superstar. They have not played any starters on offense even a single play. No injuries except for Moody who is expected to start against Tampa.
August 20th, 2025 at 9:42 am
If you have ever had anything sprained, and this is described as severely sprained, you know how painful it is. Typically you can try to minimize the use of the sprained appendage, not so easy with a neck . This is no different than a serious whip lash injury.
I pray that he has a successful recovery. 🙏🙏🙏
August 20th, 2025 at 10:51 am
I was scared he couid have been paralyzed.
Thank God is he okay.
Defenders should be more careful when a guy jumps that high.
Just catch him and bring him down.
There’s no need to flip a ball catcher like that.
J-Mac couid have died.
His flexibility saved his life
August 20th, 2025 at 11:26 am
I think it is a good sign that Mcmillan came to the practice, if his neck was so damaged then he would be in severe pain at this point and going to the practice to see the gang would not be happening. So there is that–he must be comfortable to socialize and if he is comfortable then perhaps he will will heal quick.
August 20th, 2025 at 11:44 am
2 gloves with the setup i cringe everytime one of our DB makes a tackle and WRs goes for a catch in coverage
August 20th, 2025 at 2:17 pm
I liked what I saw out of Ryan Miller this preseason, at least be vs the Titans, let’s hope he can step up while McMillan is out. I like the things he can do. While we aren’t deep right now, we do have guys that are capable. Just haven’t got a real opportunity to show it consistently.
August 20th, 2025 at 5:06 pm
Yeah I don’t agree with hitting a guy like that knowing you’re going to flip him. I can’t stress that enough, it was a known flip with him being that high in the air. I would have come unglued on Porter for that. There is an unspoken rule about that and if you break it your karma glass just got broken.
August 20th, 2025 at 10:32 pm
I would imagine from watching it, McMillan got a really good stretch down the back of his neck. I bet he’ll be back within a month good to go.