Bucs’ Mike Evans returns to practice but listed as ‘doubtful’ for opener

TAMPA — One of the big attractions to the Bucs for Tom Brady was a chance to play with a Pro Bowl receiver like Mike Evans.

He may have to wait a little longer.

Evans, who missed three practices with a hamstring strain, returned to work Friday but was listed as doubtful on the injury report, an indication that his status is still very much in the air.

Evans was catching fade passes from Brady outdoors in warmups, then joined the full squad indoors for practice Friday.

Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Evans was limited to individual drills in practice and his status won’t be determined until Sunday.

"He did some individual stuff today,'' Arians said. "We’ll see if he’s sore tomorrow. He’s still probably a game-time decision.''

Evans has been dogged by hamstring injuries in the past, missing the final three games of 2019.

The Bucs struggled with hamstring injuries last season. Neither Evans nor Chris Godwin finished the season due to them.

Arians admitted the Bucs receivers did too much running in September and October, which led to the rash of hamstring injuries late in the year.

"I think for the November, December hamstrings? We overworked when you look back at all the data that we have,'' Arians said. "We overworked our receivers some in September and October that maybe led to those, so we’ve really cut back in those areas. There’s still going to be soft-tissue injuries that are freaky. Mike’s more of a twist on a route, it’s more of a minor one but it’s still bugging him.''