Buccaneers Star Wide Receiver Leaves Practice Early with Injury

One star returns and another comes off, as Tampa Bay gets close to the end of Week 2 of training camp.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans got some really good news early Friday morning as wide receiver Chris Godwin had pads on and was actively practicing for the first time this training camp. 

That, coming from The Athletics Greg Auman who tweeted, "Here’s a big one: Bucs receiver Chris Godwin is practicing today for the first time since knee surgery. Has a brace on his right knee."

ESPN's Jenna Laine later shared a video of No. 14 running a route on the field. 

Bucs wide receiver Chris Godwin is participating in drills today in his first practice since tearing his ACL. Lots of hugs, pats on the back and encouragement from teammates and coaches. pic.twitter.com/uVuaTNbYAa

— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) August 5, 2022

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The speculation about when Godwin would be back on the field has been widespread since he tore his ACL in December of last year in what would become a 9-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints. 

When he left that game, Godwin already had nearly 50-yards receiving and six catches, early in the second quarter. 

Despite missing the final three regular-season contests for the Bucs, the young star still finished with more than 1,000 yards receiving and 98 receptions and was potentially on pace to set career highs in both of those categories along with touchdowns scored. 

While many will celebrate the return of Godwin, it wasn't all great news on Friday, as the team's No. 1 receiver left practice early with a hamstring issue. 

Todd Bowles says Mike Evans might have tweaked a hamstring, left practice early today.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 5, 2022

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This isn't the first time Mike Evans has experienced hamstring issues of course, and through them all, he's still been able to put together eight straight seasons of 1,000 yards receiving or more, an NFL record he's looking to extend this season. 

'Tweak' is usually a good thing, as words like tear and pull are ones you want to avoid, even if they're sometimes synonyms. 

Tampa Bay will be back on the practice field Saturday and Sunday.

Because of today's news, they may be without one of their star receivers, once again.

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!