Bucs WRs Mike Evans, Russell Gage to sit out practice this week

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receivers Mike Evans and Russell Gage will not practice with the team during its joint session this week with the Tennessee Titans, coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday.

Evans exited practice earlier this month with a hamstring injury, while Gage has been sidelined for the past week with his own hamstring ailment. Both players sat out the Buccaneers' 26-24 preseason loss to the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

"No, they won't be practicing this week," Bowles said.

The Bucs are bringing Chris Godwin along slowly as he returns from surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee.

"It's just good to see him out there," Bowles said of Godwin. "Putting him in team drills a little bit and letting him get his feet wet. But we're still in the process with him, day by day, and we're bringing him along slowly."

Offseason addition Julio Jones will join Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, Cyril Grayson Jr. and Jaelon Darden in being featured in practice in the absence of Evans and Gage. Veteran Breshad Perriman also has a hamstring injury and missed practice Monday.

Also, Tampa Bay released defensive back Ross Cockrell along with five other players to trim its roster to the NFL-mandated limit of 85.

"We thought enough of Ross to give him a chance to get on with somebody else, so that's why we did it so early," Bowles said. "But he did a lot of things for us in the past."

Cockrell was joined by wide receiver Kameron Brown, offensive lineman Curtis Blackwell and tight end Ben Beise.

Offensive lineman Jonathan Hubbard and linebacker JoJo Ozougwu were waived/injured, which means they automatically revert to the Buccaneers' injured reserve list if they are not claimed off waivers by another NFL team.