Mike Evans could make a return for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend when they travel to take on the New York Giants.
The 31-year-old Pro Bowl receiver has been out for five weeks with a hamstring injury but the 4-6 Bucs are hopeful he could be back on the field on Sunday.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield said: “From what I can see, he is good. Just talking to him, he seems really positive about it.
“Mike’s a pro. He’s going to do everything he can to get back out there with us and fight for this team as we take it one game at a time.”
Evans has hit 1,000 receiving yards or more in each of his 10 previous NFL seasons but injury means he needs 665 yards in the final seven games of the season to keep that up.
“The streak, yeah, it’s important to us, but he cares about winning,” Mayfield said of Evans.
“He’s a huge part of this offense when he’s there, so I think that’ll come naturally. But I’ve been in the situation where you’re trying to force-feed the ball to a guy and that’s not how this offense works especially.
“So, staying true to the reads, defense dictates where the ball needs to go, but when we have our 1-on-1 matchups with him, we need to take advantage of it, though.”
The Giants are 2-8 and badly need the win at MetLife Stadium.
