Liam Coen’s job just got a lot harder, but it’s not something he hasn’t dealt with before. With the losses of Mike Evans in the short term and Chris Godwin in the long term, Coen finds himself having to adjust nearly everything about the offense in order to compensate for two of the NFL’s top receivers not being on the field. When he spoke with the media, he was asked about how much more difficult his job became. Coen said;

“Yeah, it brings new challenges, but also new opportunities and guys need to step up. We obviously need to get more creative in some different ways. What it looks like exactly, we’re still trying to formulate and figure out so [it’s] a great opportunity for some guys. It’s hard, anytime you lose your two guys that have obviously produced a lot for you, so that’s a challenge, but it’s a great [opportunity] for some guys to get a new opportunity.”

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Those guys are going to be Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, and Sterling Shepard who are all going to have to elevate their game to keep this Buccaneers offense afloat. While each have had their moments throughout the season, none of them have done anything to instill confidence in the Bucs’ fanbase that they can carry the load the way the Bucs would need in order to maintain the offense’s high scoring start to the season. There will be a lot of reliance on the running backs, though Bucky Irving’s status appears to be in question after missing Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices with a toe injury. 

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That said, Coen has seen this before. Following the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl season, they lost a lot of key members of their team due to injury - which led Baker Mayfield to joining the team mid-season. Coen spoke about that experience, saying;

“Yeah, in a different way in 2022 in [Los Angeles]. We had 13 different starting offensive lines, Cooper [Kupp] goes down, we lose Allen Robinson II, it was kind of a similar type [of] situation just with different people. It’s a challenge, it definitely presents some more work for you as a staff and as other players [with] having to step up. So yeah, I’ve been through something like this – probably not one quite like this though.”

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For the Bucs, it’s all about this weekend. A win over Atlanta and they still find themselves in first place in the division before heading to Kansas City then facing the 49ers before the bye. Even if they lose those two games and head into the bye at 5-5, after that the schedule gets much easier and Mike Evans (hopefully) returns. The early diagnosis was that he was going to miss at least four weeks, which would put him in line to return in week twelve against the Giants coming off the bye.

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The Bucs drafted McMillan in the third round for a reason. They signed Shepard for a reason. Perhaps Marquez Callaway gets a chance to play against a familiar foe. No matter how you slice it, it’s going to be sink or swim for these skill position players to either rise to the occasion or show the Bucs that there are more roster moves that are going to have be made in the offseason. 

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Atlanta Falcons (4-3) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3)

Sunday, October 27, 1:00 p.m. ET

Raymond James Stadium (capacity: 65,844)

Tampa, Florida

Television: FOX

TV Broadcast Team: Adam Amin (play-by-play), Greg Olsen (analyst), Pam Oliver (reporter)

Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station

Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (reporter)

Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente

Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst)

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