Emeka Egbuka injury update is just about what everyone expected to hear
But the unfortunate part is he’s probably right.
Emeka Egbuka became one of the most recent Tampa Bay Buccaneers to suffer an injury after he pulled his hamstring during the first half of the team’s 30-19 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
It was bad enough that it held him out of the rest of the game. Todd Bowles couldn’t comment on the severity of the injury during his postgame press conference; however, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Monday morning that Egbuka is getting the typical MRI for this kind of injury. He also mentioned it’s not as severe as Mike Evans’ injury, which has kept him out of the last three games.
“All of Baker [Mayfield’s] targets, it seems, are out, and you can add Emeka Egbuka to that list as well,” Rapoport said on Monday morning’s episode of Good Morning Football. “He’s dealing with a hamstring injury [and he’s] going to get an MRI today. It does not seem like it is that serious. I do expect him to miss some time, but it doesn’t seem to be as serious as the Mike Evans one.
“But certainly it seems like the Bucs are going to have to rely on the Kam Johnsons and Tez Johnsons and other young receivers that we hadn’t heard of until, well, you know, yesterday.”
The Egbuka situation is not ideal, but it does sound like Mike Evans will return soon
Actually, Rapoport was off on the MRI timeline. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles told reporters Monday that Egbuka will have an MRI on Tuesday. As we mentioned Sunday, it was more than likely the Bucs wouldn’t have a good idea until then, anyway.
Hamstrings are arguably top of the line when it comes to finicky injuries, and once a player gets one, there’s always a fear it’ll crop back up at some point (see: Evans). Anything less than two weeks would be considered a win, but fortunately for the Bucs, it sounds like there’s some hope Evans could return for Week 7 against the Lions.
“Meanwhile, Mike Evans is nearing a return from that hamstring injury, should be kind of getting close to that wheelhouse,” said Rapoport. “Chris Godwin is now week-to-week. [He’s] still dealing with that with that lower leg injury.”
Evans’ hypothetical return would obviously be huge, and it would really help Baker Mayfield keep the passing game on track. But as we’ve seen so far with Mayfield, it doesn’t matter who is playing wide receiver. He’ll find a way to get the ball to them.
Either way, it’s unclear as to whether Rapoport is actually reporting this or offering his opinion. We all know he’s as plugged in as it gets, but phrasing it as “I expect him to miss” instead of “the Bucs expect him to miss” raises an antenna, to an extent.
Regardless, we’ll find something out soon.
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