Buccaneers' Mike Evans: Posts season-best day before exiting with head injury

Evans (concussion) hauled in 11 of 17 targets for 150 yards and a pair of scores in Thursday's 43-28 loss to the Falcons before exiting for good late in the fourth quarter after suffering a blow to the head. Head coach Dirk Koetter subsequently confirmed in his post-game press conference that Evans is in the NFL concussion protocol.

Analysis:

The news regarding Evans' current health status is a significant blow to the most wide receiver-starved team in the league at present. The third-year pro was outstanding while in the game, hauling in scores of three and 28 yards from Jameis Winston in the first and second quarters, respectively. He also saw double-digit targets for the seventh straight week while notching season bests in catches and yardage. The performance also represented the third time in the last four games that Evans brought in better than 50 percent of passes thrown his way, an encouraging development following a Week 9 loss to the Raiders in which he only notched four receptions on 11 looks. If his concussion symptoms linger into early next week, the Bucs will almost assuredly need to reinforce the receiving corps with some outside help before their Week 10 tilt against the Bears.