Tampa Bay Buccaneers All-Pro wide receiver Mike Evans missed practice on Thursday because of a hamstring issue.
Head coach Todd Bowles said that Evans "tweaked his leg" and it was a "nagging" issue before the team's 51-27 victory over the host New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Evans had left the game in the second quarter and played sparingly afterward, totaling two catches for 34 yards.
Bowles said Evans, 31, is "getting better" and is expected to be back at practice leading up to the team's next game on Monday night against the visiting Baltimore Ravens.
Evans has started all six games this season and has 25 receptions on 42 targets for 310 yards and a league-leading five touchdown receptions.
He also had been on the injury report with a knee issue before Week 4's game but played against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Also missing practice on Thursday were cornerback Jamel Dean (hamstring), tight end Payne Durham (calf) and wide receiver Kameron Johnson (ankle). Wide receiver Rakim Jarrett (knee) was designated to return from injured reserve and was limited in practice.
Evans is pursuing Jerry Rice's record of 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2024 after hitting that mark in each of his first 10 years with the Bucs. He has started 159 of 160 career regular-season games and has 787 receptions for 11,990 yards and 99 touchdowns.
Tampa Bay selected him seventh overall in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection including 2023, when he led the NFL with 13 TD receptions, Evans signed a two-year, $41 million contract in March that includes $29 million guaranteed.
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The New York Giants were routinely linked with quarterback Shedeur Sanders leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Giants ultimately traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart at pick No. 25. For a piece published on Monday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News revisited how Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll ended up with Dart instead of Sanders earlier this year. "Members of the Giants’ staff had fawned over Shedeur Sanders," Leonard wrote. "Giants brass had spent a lot more time with Sanders during the fall. Then, Daboll’s increased participation after the NFL season steered the process in a different direction." Sanders allegedly had a rough visit with Daboll ahead of the draft, and a report from early May revealed that "Sanders openly acknowledged during the predraft process that he didn't hit it off with Giants coaches." A different story claimed that Schoen "shifted his preference to Dart this spring as head coach Brian Daboll warmed to Dart as a player and person and Schoen rounded out his own evaluation" before the draft got underway. That said, Schoen raised some eyebrows when he said during a May interview that he knew the club would select Dart over Sanders as of "the week of the draft." Schoen also said the decision was the result of a "collaborative process." According to Leonard, those comments were seen by some as "not exactly a firm endorsement of a player standing out above the rest" as it pertains to the quarterbacks. "...Schoen’s lukewarm rhetoric and reluctance to stick his neck out about Dart caught the attention of some people around the league," Leonard added. "And it has put the rookie in a strange position: trying to validate support that almost sounds conditional." Meanwhile, Sanders fell to the draft's fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to grab him at selection No. 144. As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook had Sanders (+870 odds) and Dart (+1060 odds) as significant betting underdogs to serve as Week 1 starters in September. Cleveland is expected to go with Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett for its regular-season opener, while Russell Wilson is on track to start for the Giants against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 7. In short, fans may have to wait a long time to learn if Schoen has any buyer's remorse about possibly being talked into drafting Dart when Sanders was on the board.
Through much of his time with the New York Rangers, Mika Zibanejad has been too good to be a second-line center, yet not quite a top liner for a contender. Now aging out of his prime, his play has dropped off the past two seasons, only rebounding when moved to the wing next to midseason acquisition J.T. Miller. That presents a problem for New York. The Rangers are not deep down the middle. Moving Zibanejad back to center provides that depth, putting Vincent Trochek back in his appropriate 3C role. But does Zibanejad again suffer without Miller? It also leaves the Blueshirts thin on the right side. Zibanejad can’t play two positions at once and the Rangers cannot rob Peter to pay Paul. There is a solution, however: Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish. Anaheim and New York already have strong front office ties, with a pair of trades in the past eight months. The cross-continental line should be open. McTavish is precisely the player archetype that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has sought in this past year. The 22-year-old possesses good size (6-foot-1, 219 pounds) and plays with a grit that Drury adores. An old-fashioned power forward in the making, McTavish hunts bodies, making life miserable for defenders on the forecheck and finds pockets of space when off the puck, where he unloads a cannon of a shot. An all-situations player, McTavish digs in the corners and is developing nicely as an offensive driver. McTavish is a hard worker who shows leadership traits. New Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan loves to play with speed and relentless pressure, a mantra that suits McTavish down to the ground. For a second-line center, McTavish’s numbers don’t exactly pop off the page, but 52 points (22 goals) in 76 games for a bad Ducks team is nothing to sneeze at. In New York, he would also presumably get to play with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Given the playmaking ability of those wingers and McTavish’s heavy shot, 30-plus goals could be on the cards. Bleacher Report has stated that the Ducks are unlikely to extend McTavish an offer sheet, instead willing to match whatever offer comes his way. Does that mean he is on the trade block? At the very least it means that Anaheim will likely be willing to listen to offers. That said, it would take an almighty package to pry the former No. 3 pick out of Orange County. The Ducks would rightly command a first-round pick — if not two — and a highly-rated prospect. New York has its own first-rounders in store, as well as a, likely, late first-rounder next year, with second-round picks each year except 2027. Would New York part with a first, a second and a pair of its top prospects? The Rangers are loaded with left wing prospects. Whilst Gabe Perrault is likely off the table, Brennan Othmann, Adam Sykora and Brett Berard should be discussed, as should defenseman E.J. Emery. Would picks and a pair of prospects be enough for Anaheim, though? Here’s a thought experiment: a deal centered around Will Cuylle. As mentioned, the Rangers have a raft of left wingers coming through and Lafreniere is also a natural left winger. Would trading Cuylle for McTavish solve the Rangers' issues at the pivot, allowing Zibanejad to help fix the right-hand side and give the team room to develop more youngsters on the left? Could this solve three issues in one swoop? It would be a, potentially, seismic move, but it might just make sense for both teams, especially if the Ducks are not looking to keep McTavish around long-term. It would complete a remarkable offseason for Drury.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs losing star Mitch Marner this offseason, the team has had to fill a massive hole in the lineup. The Toronto front office has done a decent job so far, and the roster looks a little more well-rounded. But it seems that the Maple Leafs may not be done making moves this summer. According to NHL insider Nick Kypreos of SportsNet, Toronto could trade away defensemen Morgan Rielly or Brandon Carlo in an attempt to add more offense. "While we do also have Morgan Rielly on this list, if the Leafs move a defenseman it'll likely only be one of them. But while Rielly comes with the complication of a no-movement clause, Brandon Carlo has just an eight-team no-trade list and so is also worth putting on the trade board. "Making $3.485M against the cap for another two years, Carlo was a welcome addition to the Leafs' defense corps, averaging 19:13 of ice time per game and nearly two minutes on the PK. In the playoffs, he was among the team's shot-blocking leaders," Kypreos wrote. Marner accounted for 27 goals and 75 assists last season, which will be very tough for the Maple Leafs to replace. But the team does have a limited number of tradable assets to work with, which could potentially be why they are thinking of trading a defender. The Toronto front office remains very active on the trade front and it could lead to a deal taking place. There is still plenty of time left between now and the start of the regular season, giving the Maple Leafs some needed optionality before the new year.
The Boston Celtics' priorities were already apparent before making the trades they did. Because they wanted to get under the NBA's second tax apron, the Celtics were willing to downgrade some of their players to get under it. That's why the Celtics traded Jrue Holiday for Anfernee Simons and Kristaps Porzingis for Georges Niang. It is a talent downgrade, but it helped Boston achieve their goals of getting under the second apron, even if those players aren't as good as Holiday or Porzingis. However, those trades only helped Boston get closer to being under the NBA's second tax apron, but it didn't get them under completely. Boston signed a few more players this offseason, including Luka Garza, Josh Minott, and Hugo Gonzalez. While these players are on inexpensive contracts, combined, they are enough to keep the Celtics above the NBA's second tax apron. That's why Boston isn't done making moves. Spotrac's Keith Smith revealed in an interview with a Boston Celtics executive that more trades will follow because they are still above the NBA's second tax apron. “Still figuring it all out. As you’ve noted, we’re still above the second apron. We won’t finish there," the Celtics exec told Smith. As far as how the Celtics will do that is anyone's guess. They may trade Anfernee Simons for someone who makes less than him. They may trade Niang's contract to a team that can absorb it via trade exception. They may even trade Sam Hauser or Payton Pritchard to do it. Regardless, more moves are coming for the Celtics.
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