TAMPA, Fla. – The Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin will undergo surgery on a dislocated left ankle and will likely be out of surgery for the year, coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday, a day after the star wide receiver was carted off the field in the final minute of a “Monday Night Football” loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“There’s a chance if we play late in the playoffs he could be back,” Bowles said of Godwin, who he said had some additional structural damage to the ankle, “but he’s having surgery and will be out.”

Mike Evans, the Bucs’ other star receiver and the franchise’s leading scorer, suffered what Bowles described as a “moderate” hamstring strain and will be sidelined for “a few weeks.” He said Evans likely won’t return until after the team’s Week 11 bye, meaning they’ll be without nearly 50% of their team’s offensive production against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8, the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 and San Francisco. 49ers in week 10.

Evans had entered the match with a hamstring strain, missed practice on Thursday and Friday before doing some limited work on Saturday and had no injuries on him entering the match. But during a 24-yard sprint to the end zone on a go route, Evans injured a different part of the hamstring. He fell into the grass and immediately grabbed the back of his leg.

“It’s quite painful. I don’t know what the significance of that is either, but he will miss a few weeks,” Bowles said.

Godwin’s injury occurred when he was tackled from behind by Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith. Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the league is reviewing the play to determine whether it contained all the elements of a hip-drop tackle, which was made illegal this offseason and could lead to a fine.

The team on Tuesday evaluated what options they might have for help at receiver, both internally and externally. Entering Week 7, Evans and Godwin were tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions with five each, with Evans recording a sixth on a 25-yard touchdown on the opening drive of their game Monday night.

“We’ve looked outside the building, but to get a true No. 1 here, you’re going to have to make some huge trades and give up quite a bit. That’s not where we’re at right now,” Bowles said. “We feel comfortable with the guys in the building. They probably don’t have the name status of Mike and Chris or aren’t as successful right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play. We’ll change some things and (Rakim ) Jarrett will be back this week. We will also watch him in practice and make a decision based on that.

But to go out and have someone come here and become a No. 1 and a dominant guy is probably going to cost you half your team. We feel comfortable with the guys we have here now and we know what their skills are there and we’re going to work on that now.”

The Bucs invested a third-round draft pick in rookie wideout Jalen McMillan, who had a strong training camp but had a quiet start to the season and missed two games with a hamstring injury. He collected three catches on eight targets for 15 receiving yards on Monday.

Veteran Sterling Shepard, Mayfield’s former Oklahoma teammate, had one catch on one target for 15 yards. Sophomore receiver Trey Palmer, who missed two games with a concussion, was active against the Ravens but saw just three targets with one catch. Bowles said he can take on a “full workload.” The Bucs designated Jarrett to return from injured reserve on October 17, beginning his 21-day practice period, making him eligible for activation at any time.

Although the Bucs signed big names as free agents during the Tom Brady era, such as trading for Rob Gronkowski and signing Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette and Le’Veon Bell, the team’s preference was to draft, develop and re-sign their own team. own players, as seen over the past several free agency signing periods.

Evans and Godwin’s production culminated in Mayfield having the best statistical start to his career yet this season, with 18 touchdowns through the first seven games of the regular season, more than any other quarterback in the league, while throwing 70, Completed 5% of his passes. . Bowles acknowledged he understood the desire to look elsewhere, but emphasized the team’s track record of cultivating its own talent even as it competes for a fourth straight division title and a fifth straight playoff berth.

“If there are smart moves we can make, we certainly always want to make moves if it benefits us,” Bowles said. “At the same time, we believe in developing our young receivers and getting those guys ready to play, and that’s what coaching is for. You can’t just go out and take every $50 million receiver and come in and automatically expect that they’re playing. You’ve got to have some confidence in what the young guys are doing and the growth they’re making, and we have confidence in those guys and we’re going to play with them.”

In addition to Godwin and Evans, rookie starting Nicky back Tykee Smith, who had forced fumbles in Weeks 5 and 6 and recorded his first career interception in Week 6, left Monday’s game to be evaluated for a concussion and did so not return.

“He’s on concussion protocol for a short week,” Bowles said. “We’ll see what happens, but that’s usually difficult in a short week.”