Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin will be out indefinitely, likely for the season, after dislocating his ankle in Monday’s loss to the Ravens.
Coach Todd Bowles revealed the bad news, saying “it doesn’t look good,” while answering questions about why Godwin was even in the game with 41 seconds left.
“You could argue (that he shouldn’t have been in the game), because he got hurt. We don’t question it,” Bowles said. “We have our guys and we play everyone we have. It’s too bad he got hurt and we feel bad about it. But he’s a football player and he wanted to be in the game, everything like Baker (Mayfield) and everyone else wanted to be in the game.”
The Bucs trailed by 10 points with less than a minute to play when Godwin caught a pass from Mayfield before being tackled by Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith. It was obvious that the star receiver couldn’t get up and was in great pain.
ESPN refused to show a replay of the horrific injury.
“Chris is a heck of a player, and he’s a heck of a human being, even more than that,” Bowles said. “But there’s not much to say. We feel bad for him. Unfortunately, they’re not going to cancel the games. We need to step up and move on, but we have a heavy heart.”
The Bucs lost their other star receiver, Mike Evans, in the first half when he dropped a touchdown pass while aggravating his hamstring on a tackle by Ravens defensive back Brandon Stephens.
Godwin, who becomes a free agent this offseason, entered the game with 43 catches for 511 yards and five touchdowns before catching seven passes for 65 yards against the Ravens.
