Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans said he hasn’t thought about his future beyond Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers.
The Bucs absolutely have to win and must hope for a New Orleans Saints victory over the Atlanta Falcons to qualify for the playoffs.
The leading scorer in franchise history is not under contract for next year and has not committed to playing after the season. In the past, he has said he wants to finish his career in Tampa Bay.
“I’m approaching it as usual,” Evans said. “We’ll see what happens. I’ll take care of it when the time comes. For now, we have to win. I always give my best and I will fight until the end. »
Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last eight games, but can still believe in 1st place in the South division of the National and will have the support of its fans for this decisive match. The team will also offer the first 13,000 fans a figurine of Evans, wearing his number 13 jersey and performing his iconic celebratory salute.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles echoed that Tuesday when asked if this was Evans’ last game.
“I think we just have to win,” Bowles said. “Whether or not this is their last match is not even discussed at the moment. »
The wide receiver was forced to miss six games this season due to a broken collarbone, the first of his career. He also missed three games with a hamstring injury.
Last week in the game against the Miami Dolphins, Evans became the 22nd player in NFL history to reach 13,000 receiving yards. He is also one of only nine players in league history to have at least 850 receptions, 13,000 passing yards and 100 touchdowns, joining Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Tony Gonzalez, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Larry Fitzgerald.
