Chris Godwin’s latest injury update is a step forward, but the Bucs face a few more twists and turns before he’s fully back
The star wideout’s recovery has been a long one, but it’s going in the right direction.
Injuries are a part of football, and every team goes through them, but it’s fair to say the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are experiencing more than they’d like at this point in the preseason.
The team recently received some positive momentum, however, in the form of star receiver Chris Godwin’s return from a gruesome leg injury that ended his 2024 season early. Godwin didn’t participate in OTAs or minicamp, and he’s been on the PUP list since the beginning of training camp. The latter changed on Thursday, though.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bucs plan to remove Godwin from the PUP list. While that’s a positive sign regarding his recovery, the Bucs don’t expect him to start practicing until Week 2. Meaning, he’s in a spot where he can slowly ramp up and get into practice/football shape since he hasn’t done anything like that since last October.
Chris Godwin’s injury update comes during a time when the Buccaneers needed it
Godwin isn’t the only Bucs receiver expected to miss time during the regular season. Second-year wideout Jalen McMillan suffered a severe neck sprain during Saturday’s preseason win against the Pittsburgh Steelers and will be placed on IR when cutdown day rolls around. He’s expected to miss the first half of the season, and not just the four mandatory games, as well.
McMillan was expected to be a key part of a vaunted Bucs passing attack that certainly has the potential to be the NFL’s best. His injury, on top of Godwin’s long recovery, makes the decision to select Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft look better each and every day. And it’s not just because of the injury situations, either. Egbuka has looked like a seasoned veteran all offseason and is expected to make an impact in Year 1.
It sounds like Godwin’s return should be around October, and then McMillan should return around mid-November-ish. Granted, both timelines are unclear, but the silver lining in all of this is that the Buccaneers’ passing attack should be at full power by the time the most important football of the year is being played.
