Report: Chris Godwin Not Expected To Play Sunday
October 10th, 2025
Shelved?
If you wonder why Joe hasn’t written much about Chris Godwin the past couple of days, it’s because Joe is hoping beyond hope the optics are way wrong.
No, Joe has not seen Godwin around the locker room at One Buc Palace. But the optics of Godwin on the Bucs’ injury report not practicing because of a “fibula” issue has Joe fully freaked out.
Hopefully, Godwin didn’t aggravate something in his ankle/leg that was destroyed last year against Baltimore, the injurey from which he is trying to recover after a pair of surgeries.
Or worse.
So Joe is just hoping this is some injury that isn’t related to his damaged ankle/leg.
The Bucs have been really quiet about this. In fact, the Bucs are too quiet about this. Way too quiet for Joe’s comfort.
That often means bad news.
Per the fingertips of NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, it is unlikely Godwin will be available to play Sunday afternoon against the 49ers. No details were provided.
Godwin did play in Seattle and caught three of the four passes targeted to him for a meager 26 yards. He did not finish the game.
Joe’s fingers are crossed this has nothing to do with Godwin’s previous injury, or at worst, this is just a minor hiccup.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin (fibula) is not expected to play Sunday vs. 49ers, per source.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 10, 2025
October 10th, 2025 at 10:43 am
Not great. Hopefully Bucs are using abundance of caution.
October 10th, 2025 at 10:46 am
At this point, you have to look ahead to the end of the season. We didn’t have Chris down the stretch and it was detrimental. Yes, JMAC stepped up and we have Egbuka now, but we need Godwin down the line. You just can’t replace veteran presence in big time moments (though I do think Egbuka has the ability to overcome the moment as he did at OSU).
Put Chris on ice please, there’s no need to rush anyone back after this start to the season. Trust the next man up to continue to get the job done and let’s get healthy.
October 10th, 2025 at 10:48 am
This is a long-term play. He is obviously not healthy still and one cannot wonder to think that he will never be what he was. Thankfully we have depth at the WR position and a STUD QB with an OC that can adjust. Go Bucs!!
October 10th, 2025 at 10:49 am
AWFUL DECISION TO RESIGN HIM
His $20 plus million could be used for a MLB, a DB, another healthier WR
Hope he gets well and plays better than his last 2 games, but Licht needs to have his head examined for this choice
October 10th, 2025 at 10:49 am
Not good. For everyone saying Shep would not be on the roster at the start of the season, you better be happy that now he is. As far as Godwin and even Evans , these guy can’t make it through an entire season any longer and are probably both very close to retirement at this point. I would not be surprised if Godwin never makes it back on the field this season.
October 10th, 2025 at 10:54 am
He was clearly hobbled last week…and stayed in. Watching EE go off probably has his competitive juices flowing…but he’s rusty and really not ready.
October 10th, 2025 at 10:58 am
Smart and I agree. Let CG14 and his docs call the shots. We’ve got receivers in both the RBs and TEs. Plus All-World #78 is getting his game legs back. It’s about time the D secondary started picking off a few, too. Go Bucs, 5-1!!!!!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:00 am
I’D SHUT HIM DOWN UNTIL NEXT YEAR…
last thing you want is for him to tear his Achilles…
obviously his ankles isnt healed and its putting more stress and strain on other parts of his leg ie., calf and fibula…
rest him til 2026!!!
5-1!!!
GO BUCS!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:07 am
i really liked what tez showed in SEA and kam johnson is working to get reps on offense too….
time for otton, culp and durham to step up!!!
5-1!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:07 am
IF CG14 does not play, I hope Baker makes more use of Otton (like he did in Seattle).
October 10th, 2025 at 11:14 am
@Smarter than Joe Says… you certainly have a point. Can you imagine if the Patriots would have signed him for the amount that was being claimed, essentially WR1 money, and for Godwin to not only have not started the season, but 2 games in his gimpy again, the Patriots would have been laughed at for that financial decision… good thing the Patriots are stabilizing.
I’d like to think pro football teams are a little smart than the perception we see here. I don’t think the owners/this org underestimates the millions of dollars invested on players, especially when we have other needs as you point out. But you’d think that a sound assessment was done on Godwin before burning this kind of money, especially his guaranteed money.
Lets hope that this is simply a one off, and both Evans and Godwin will be back ready to go for the Lions game. My hope is that we are the closest to be 100%, at least for those that are banged up, but are scheduled to return when we go a face the Lions. Goedeke, Irving, etc.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:16 am
Hopefully he’s just sore and they are resting him anytime he has soreness to help his recovery.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have him strategically rest anyway during the season to prepare for the playoffs just to make sure he gets back to 100%.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:23 am
They can only utilize Cade Otten if the Offensive line can hold their blocks. Otherwise he’ll be needed to help out. The 49ers are tough up front so I don’t see the Bucs sending the tight ends out on routes.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:27 am
How about everyone stop playing orthopedic surgeon and GM?
And the idiot that said re-signing him was a mistake has no concept of anything related to loyalty, team building, morale and morality.
He will play when he’s healthy. And this team and this community should be damn pleased that he is here.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:27 am
@ZOOcomics
Banking on guys to come back 100% from injuries is a bad habit that Licht has, he likes certain guys and banks on them recovering fully. Wasting $20 plus million on Godwin and $14 Million on Reddick is just BAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDD
Licht’s biggest issue is over paying his guys, if New England wanted to give Godwin $30 Million, LET THEM
If some other team wants to OVER PAY McCollum, let them!!!
Stop over paying under performing players or often injured players
So frustrating the way Licht does things here
October 10th, 2025 at 11:27 am
You have to be cautious with him but you pay these players to play. Hes had 2 big injuries now missing time and if he’s missing a majority of this season too that’s not good news. I really hope he can recover in the next few weeks and start making real strides this year to get back to form. We need him in order to go far in the playoffs and take that next step.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:29 am
I would hate to see Godwin hang his cleats with early retirement. Bucs just need to let him rest for the year and allow his ankle/leg fully heal.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:40 am
You’re not smarter than Joe. Godwin will hopefully be just fine. He’s probably sore. He didn’t have a preseason to get into football shape. It’s probably going to be a process getting him back to 100% and he may need rest periodically.
Let’s not assume the worst. There’s no reason to at this point.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:41 am
Rest up chris….let’s fire up tez johnson I want him more involved!!!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:41 am
Let’s hope for the best for Chris!!. They may need him to go back on injured reserve. It is clear health wise, it is to soon,
Wishing him the best!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:46 am
This team is beyond soft. They’re peanut brittle players. We need more Mayfields and less Kanceys and Morrisons.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:54 am
Defense may need to win this one for us
October 10th, 2025 at 11:56 am
At this point I’d rather see some of these younger guys on tge field. Godwin should be shut down for the year. Hopefully Evans can come back before defenses start doubling on Egbuka. You can see over the last 2 games Godwin is not right. We may be coming to a point where the Evans and Godwin era is over.
October 10th, 2025 at 11:57 am
The 32nd pick of the 2026 NFL DRAFT, the Tampa Bay Bucs select, WR ……
Time to draft another WR. In Licht we trust!
October 10th, 2025 at 11:57 am
Well said Mod
October 10th, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Lotta doctors on this website without degrees.
Plus, they diagnose by mental telepathy.
They haven’t seen an X-ray or an MRI, nor could they read one if it was stuck in their face. Yet they dish out advice like they have all the answers.
Truly amazing!
There’s only one truth: none of us knows what’s wrong with Chris Godwin.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:01 pm
I think Goodwin is almost done. He came back from a rather severe injury. His injuries are mounting up. I think we have seen his best. Injuries are hell and a part of the game. I wish him well.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:02 pm
And thumbs up to ModHairKen!
October 10th, 2025 at 12:10 pm
Attention JBF Medical Team:
Who should I see about my pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis?
And yes, it’s a non fictitious malady.
Anybody?
October 10th, 2025 at 12:12 pm
Great player. Just needs to be handled with care. He’s extremely fragile.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:21 pm
“And the idiot that said re-signing him was a mistake has no concept of anything related to loyalty, team building, morale and morality. He will play when he’s healthy.”
What are you smoking? The NFL isn’t about handing out $66M contracts out of “loyalty.” How about next we sign some Make-A-Wish kids to the roster for morality.
Handing that massive contract to a severely injured 30 yr old WR was likely a mistake. Thats salary $ could’ve gone a long way towards other impact players. And to dismissively say “he”ll play when he’s healthy” – that’s the whole crux of the issue, he may never be healthy again.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
Good.
At this point he is a below average NFL receiver.
Give him several more weeks off… Too many dropped passes and missed opportunities.
I would rather have Egbuka, Shepard and Johnson out there over Godwin.
I hope Godwin can return to form this season but so far I am unimpressed with his performances.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:26 pm
@JA, No need for you to see anyone. There are plenty of commenters here who will give free advice on what you need to do. ;😉
October 10th, 2025 at 12:32 pm
ModHairKen Says:
How about everyone stop playing orthopedic surgeon and GM?
Agreed.
And the idiot that said re-signing him was a mistake has no concept of anything related to loyalty, team building, morale and morality.
Disagree. Licht has a lot of trust and loyalty built with the team. Guarantying a huge contract for a player you know if hurt is detrimental to the team’s success. Pats were going to pay Godwin more. It would have been better for everyone to let him walk.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:37 pm
This news underscores the importance of the decision to select a WR in the first round of last year’s draft. Thank you, Mr. Licht! It also gives the young Bucs WR corps an opportunity to step up and see what they can do. I’m also glad that they brought back Sterling Shepard! Go Bucs!
October 10th, 2025 at 12:44 pm
Some of you can spare me the campy, corny culture and team building jive. This is a business, if I’m handing out a guaranteed deal – it’s mfing GUARANTEED that I want an ROI. Ok bozos, Godwin is getting f guaranteed money THIS YEAR. There was an expectation that he would be relatively close to the Godwin we know. He has been anything but, and he’s already hurt again. Not good, no matter how anyone wants to spin it. Seperate your feelings for him with business for the love of god. Yes he’s a great guy, a great family man. A pillar of the community – but we the Bucs aren’t running a charity either. They’re trying to win a Super Bowl
October 10th, 2025 at 12:47 pm
Lets turn Tez Johnson into the next superstar!!!
October 10th, 2025 at 12:49 pm
ROTFLMAO!!! Morality. LOL The guy who won six rings (most in history) has as much morality is an alley cat.
There is no morality in the NFL. Unless it is forced upon the NFL by the NFLPA, the court system or they can make money off of it.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:56 pm
There’s certainly a lack of morality theses days. Most often by the ones preaching about in public and disregarding it otherwise.
October 10th, 2025 at 12:58 pm
I figured giving him that contract was a bad idea. Shouldn’t have happened.
I understand paying McCullough I don’t know why people get so defensive about things the money spent paying godwin could have been spent bulking up other parts of the roster but they are hoping for things like middle linebacker and D line to perform….
Granted we are 4-1 in the past when I made these comments before old man brady we would be 2-3 about to drop the next 4 games. normally when I complained about how they would spend money back then it would be tying up 30% of the cap in a bad offensive lineman, a malcontent WR and a bad D lineman.
October 10th, 2025 at 1:06 pm
Godwin simply needs more time to heal. It’s a hard pill for all of us “THAT HAVE BEEN HERE FOR HIS ENTIRE PRO CAREER” to swallow. Knowing that our Most Trusted and Greatest weapons are against “father times” ropes. Chris IS still young but he’s no bounce back kid anymore. He has taken some Severe Damage and these last few years have been physically Super Tough on him. He’s fighting two battles and you can’t win one without the other settled. Physically first, Mentally last.
But I gotta say, it’s Obvious why he was So sought after. The man was On Fire before the nightmare grabbed him by the legs.. Btw, the mental part.. what he’s asking himself is? “How much damage can I take, doing what I Love Most, in the whole world”, without being crippled for life? It’s a guarantee it’s on his mind. The question is can he mentally push past the fear? He’s done it once. Can he do it again….?
I Sure hope he can because I Know We Need Him…
He CAN if he believes! I’m no doctor, I don’t know what they are telling him. But the one thing that was clear in last week’s game… the FIRE wasn’t there. Either the Pain is greater than any fire (right now) or the “threat of the pain” is living rent free “for now”
He needs more time to sort it out.
Evens will be back. He’s Not done by a long shot. It’s his annual hammy time out for the season and he has Never been truly hurt. He has a couple of more years in him.
There IS one condition to how long he’ll play however. His coveted 1000 yard record. The year he doesn’t get it, is the year that maybe his last. “Maybe”… He IS chasing other records but only he knows how much that’s worth to him.. The more games he misses, the tougher it’ll be to get His.. So heal like the wind Mike. WE NEED YOU!
October 10th, 2025 at 1:21 pm
No reason to argue about the wisdom of signing Chris. Water under the bridge. We’re missing our right guard and right tackle. We don’t have Mike! Or Bucky! 2 starting corners down. I’m afraid we’re rushing Dean back, hopefully it doesn’t make that hip issue worse after a few plays. The sky isn’t falling, we’re a good football team working on getting better. Guys get hurt. Guys get better. Some don’t. Our competition doesn’t care. They have enough problems of their own. We’re not giving up on being the best team in the league. Not by a long shot.
October 10th, 2025 at 1:22 pm
Maybe his career is over. 2 major knee surgeries are hard to come back from
October 10th, 2025 at 1:36 pm
One day, like a mythical fairytale, i will turn on the T.V. and see Godwin, Ebuka, Evans, and McMillan all lined up across the field with Bucky and White in the backfield all at the same time!! Can u imagine the powerhouse wen would be on offense! Holy crap….”but it was all a dream….
October 10th, 2025 at 1:40 pm
Can we stop saying Godwin “took a team friendly deal” and start saying he “got a friends (and family) team deal.”
October 10th, 2025 at 1:47 pm
What can happen to a fibula? Stress fracture? Bone bruise?
October 10th, 2025 at 1:48 pm
OMG, some of you guys and your absolute lack of the human body astounds me. Some nut said he’s gonna tear his Achilles…. STFU with that stupidity. The fibula is the non-weight bearing bone of the lower leg, the Achilles is the tendon that attaches to the heel and is responsible for calf movement. Just absurd how some of you guys “think”. Could it be bad? Sure. But the fibula can be broken and played on. Jack Youngblood played on a broken fibula in the Super Bowl in 1980. TO broke his fibula and sprained his ankle and still played six weeks later in his Super Bowl. If it’s just his FIBULA… it probably isn’t a huge deal.
October 10th, 2025 at 2:21 pm
You can LOVE Godwin on and off the field and also think it was a mistake to bring him back.
That was a horrific injury so I don’t understand the donation to Godwin’s retirement fund while we are trying to compete for a SB.
The opportunity cost was a REAL MLB and a REAL DE.
That money was better used elsewhere. I know it sucks to say it out loud but it is the truth
October 10th, 2025 at 2:36 pm
Gotta agree with MarineBuc.
October 10th, 2025 at 2:42 pm
Definitely not ideal but EE is killing it, Tez got his feet wet and Shep seems to step up when he has to. Otten is getting into the game so they’ll just use Miller a little bit more. Miller is pretty dependable and shows up when you least expect it. Has a TD catch… better hands than you’d expect for the lack of amount of chances he gets. If he’s the third option out there, he will be going against backups as well this Sun.
October 10th, 2025 at 2:56 pm
Bucs Fan From Philly Says: “The 32nd pick of the 2026 NFL DRAFT, the Tampa Bay Bucs select, WR ……Time to draft another WR. In Licht we trust!”
2027. I said the same thing yesterday, but have been saying it ever since the off-season… There are at least 6-7 STUDS (potential generational class) in the 2027 LOADED WR-Class. We have to get one of them. Even, if it requires trading-up for ‘the one’ they want. I would give-up our two late 1’s in ‘27 and ‘28, plus our late ‘27 2nd, and our late ‘28 3rd for Jeremiah Smith. And, I don’t even know if that’d be enough to get it done with whomever it is with the shot to get him!? It is such a DEAP DEAP Class. There will be plenty others in the 2nd and 3rd Rounds, like when we got JMac in THAT LOADED Class. This 2027 class could match it. It is THAT STRONG.
October 10th, 2025 at 3:05 pm
They should’ve just told him to cash-in and go get his $$$$ from New England. Take advantage of it since nothing is guaranteed. He should have. I’m still shocked over losing JMac the way we did with friggin Teddy and all that.
October 10th, 2025 at 3:18 pm
It was easy to see during these two games that he was clearly not right. You can not just shake-it off as it just being “rust.” It clearly, was NOT. It was easy to see. He was nowhere even close to being back. It really sucks, especially with how well he was playing last season (his best). He was well on his way to having an All-Pro season. I’m not confident at all, that he’ll ever get back to that. Though, I would NEVER completely give-up on Chris, from just knowing who and what HE IS. It’s just not looking good and it’s a shame.
October 10th, 2025 at 3:36 pm
Hearty, look at what Jerry Jones has done to the Cowboys or what has happened in Cincinnati.
When good players are made to feel like crap or unwanted when it’s time for a renewal, they leave. Then remaining guys look and see how they get treated and then they want to leave.
The players here KNOW the Glazers appreciate and love them. The players here KNOW the GM will go to bat for them.
And the players love Godwin.
And he will be back.
October 10th, 2025 at 5:39 pm
@modhairken
winning a SB>>>>players feewings
Probably one of the worst takes ever posted on here
WTH????
October 10th, 2025 at 5:43 pm
Man I’m surprised Jerry Jones hasn’t hired one of the know more then everyone else from this little blog for his GM
October 10th, 2025 at 6:00 pm
Its getting pretty close to time to say that Godwin is too injury prone to be worth the money he’s making
Best ability is availability
October 10th, 2025 at 8:39 pm
Lay off the SB rap. It’s boring. We’re getting set to play game 6 of a 17 game season. I am just glad CG14 didn’t hang up his cleats after suffering 2 deliberate, illegal, season ending injuries. He sure doesn’t need the dough. As a fan, I am focused on Sunday’s game against the 49ers. I feel we will win it, refs be damned! Yeah, we have to be concerned with them. Go Bucs, 5-1!!