Bucs' Mike Evans Talks 'Extremely Tough' Injury, Hopes to Return After Bye Week

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has set a target date for his injury return.

Jenna Laine of ESPN reported that the 31-year-old is hoping to return following the Buccaneer's Week 11 bye. This would set the potential return for Week 12 against the New York Giants and would also mean that he would only miss one more game with the hamstring injury.

Evans reflected on the difficulty of the injury and said that while he wants to be back out there, he can't rush his return to the gridiron.

"It's extremely tough," Evans said, per Laine. "Obviously, everybody knows the competitor that I am, and they know I want to be out there with my team and help us win ballgames, but I can't rush it and I'll be back when I'm back and hopefully that'll be after the bye week and I'll be myself."

Evans has been out since Oct. 21. He told Laine he "would have been close" to returning for the Buccaneer's Week 10 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, but instead he and the team opted to have him fully healthy for the end of the season.

Prior to the injury, Evans had made 26 catches for 335 yards and six touchdowns. He has had at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his prior 10 seasons and will hope to have a strong stretch to end the season and continue that streak.

He wasn't the only star receiver on the team to fall victim to an injury as Chris Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle on the same night as Evans' injury and has been ruled out for the season. Godwin is still the team's leading receiver while Evans is still in third despite not playing in the last two games.

Tampa Bay has sputtered in their absence, losing three consecutive games and losing control of first place in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are currently 4-5 and two games behind the Atlanta Falcons for first place.

It will take a hot end to the season for Tampa Bay to reach the postseason and the addition of Evans should be a big boost to those chances.