NFC South

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has set a target date for his injury return.

Jenna Laine of ESPN reported that the 31-year-old is hoping to return following the Buccaneer's Week 11 bye. This would set the potential return for Week 12 against the New York Giants and would also mean that he would only miss one more game with the hamstring injury.

Evans reflected on the difficulty of the injury and said that while he wants to be back out there, he can't rush his return to the gridiron.

"It's extremely tough," Evans said, per Laine. "Obviously, everybody knows the competitor that I am, and they know I want to be out there with my team and help us win ballgames, but I can't rush it and I'll be back when I'm back and hopefully that'll be after the bye week and I'll be myself."

Evans has been out since Oct. 21. He told Laine he "would have been close" to returning for the Buccaneer's Week 10 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, but instead he and the team opted to have him fully healthy for the end of the season.

Prior to the injury, Evans had made 26 catches for 335 yards and six touchdowns. He has had at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his prior 10 seasons and will hope to have a strong stretch to end the season and continue that streak.

He wasn't the only star receiver on the team to fall victim to an injury as Chris Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle on the same night as Evans' injury and has been ruled out for the season. Godwin is still the team's leading receiver while Evans is still in third despite not playing in the last two games.

Tampa Bay has sputtered in their absence, losing three consecutive games and losing control of first place in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are currently 4-5 and two games behind the Atlanta Falcons for first place.

It will take a hot end to the season for Tampa Bay to reach the postseason and the addition of Evans should be a big boost to those chances.

After suffering his second documented concussion of the 2024 season in a Week 9 loss to the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.

Olave is now required to miss a minimum of four games.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport indicated there's a "real chance" Olave doesn't play again this year.

Given the nature of his injury, the team’s record, and the fact that he’s been seeing specialists, there is a real chance Olave has played his last down in 2024. https://t.co/JdPQI7gsZK

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 9, 2024

Olave was injured midway through the first quarter when he got sandwiched between Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson and safety Xavier Woods on a big hit as they prevented him from making a catch.

Officials flagged Woods for unnecessary roughness. Olave remained on the turf and was taken off the field on a stretcher before being diagnosed with a concussion.

Olave previously missed New Orleans' Week 7 game against the Denver Broncos with a concussion. He has suffered five confirmed head injuries since the start of the 2020 season dating back to when he was at Ohio State.

Three of those head injuries have come in the past 12 months. Olave has missed at least one game in each of his first three seasons with the Saints due to concussions.

With Olave on injured reserve, he will now be out until at least Week 15.

Given that the Saints have lost seven straight games after a 2-0 start and don't look like a playoff contender in the NFC, there's no reason to try rushing Olave back on the field even if he were to pass the NFL's concussion protocol.

Olave was the No. 11 overall pick by New Orleans in the 2022 NFL draft. He recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons. His 400 yards this season leads all Saints players, despite having missed one game already.

As Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young prepares to make his third consecutive start on Sunday, the Panthers dismissed calls from rival teams prior to the trade deadline for the second-year quarterback.

On the Scoop City podcast (starts at 11:45 mark), The Athletic's Dianna Russini said the Panthers "want this to work" with Young even though teams were calling about his availability in a trade.

There has been trade speculation around Young for weeks dating back to when he was benched by Carolina after Week 2. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Sept. 21 "several teams" expressed interest in the 23-year-old, but the Panthers had no intention of dealing him.

After the trade deadline passed on Tuesday, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan told reporters they wanted to see how Young fares the rest of this season before they make any concrete decisions:

"Yeah, I think every week, you know, we're assessing Bryce. We're just seeing, taking it day by day, really just seeing him grow, seeing him develop, be under coach and work with him, learn under Andy. I think we do see him growing every day. We're excited to work with him and keep working with him in the future. At the end of the day, we'll have those conversations once the season ends and, we'll see where we're at."

Young was inserted back into the starting lineup in Week 8 after quarterback Andy Dalton was involved in a car crash on Oct. 22. He played one of the best games of his career on Sunday, finishing 16-of-26 for 171 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 23-22 win over the New Orleans Saints.

We have an XL TD! Bryce Young finds Xavier Legette for the @Panthers TD 🐎

📺: #NOvsCAR on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/QXlc77yb2R

— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024

The Panthers are incentivized to see if they can get anything out of Young because of the price they paid to acquire the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft to select him. Their March 2023 trade with the Chicago Bears cost them DJ Moore and four draft picks, one of which turned out to be the top pick in the 2024 draft.

There is almost no chance the Panthers ever get equal value out of that deal, but turning Young into a viable starter would at least make it look less bad.

If Young continues to start for the rest of this season and plays well, the Panthers will then be able to decide if they think he is a viable option for them in 2025 or explore trade options during the offseason.

The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday they signed running back Chuba Hubbard to an extension.

Hubbard here to stay pic.twitter.com/Q7bGYanMSI

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 7, 2024

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the deal is worth $33.2 million over four years with $15 million fully guaranteed.

Hubbard is the Panthers' leading rusher with 665 yards and five touchdowns though nine games.

Securing $30-plus million in the current market is a great piece of business for Hubbard and his agent. His total value is the sixth-highest among running backs, per Spotrac.

The devil could be in the details, though.

Josh Jacobs secured a four-year, $48 million contract from the Green Bay Packers in the offseason, and that's the biggest active deal for a running back. But it's structured in a way where the Packers can move on from the two-time Pro Bowler at any point after this season while absorbing a relatively minor cost.

The Panthers may have taken the same approach with Hubbard, especially when considering this extension comes only months after Carolina used a second-round pick on Jonathon Brooks.

Granted, this wouldn't be the first time the franchise displayed little long-term planning with its backfield.

Panthers gave Miles Sanders a four-year, $25.4 million contract

...with Chuba Hubbard on the roster.

Now, the Panthers give Hubbard a four-year, $33.2 million extension

...with second-round pick Jonathon Brooks in waiting, in a lost season.

Don't you have bigger fish to fry,…

— Kate Magdziuk (@katemagdziuk) November 7, 2024

> Pay Miles Sanders 25 mill
> Bench him for chuba hubbard
> Hubbard is the only good player on your team
> Draft RB w/ torn acl in the 2nd RD on a team w/ 0 good players
> ACL RB never plays
> Pay Hubbard 33 million

normal process, find a new slant

— Davis Mattek (@DavisMattek) November 7, 2024

One difference between now and when Miles Sanders signed in 2023 is that Dan Morgan wasn't running the front office. Morgan was the assistant general manager under Scott Fitterer, so it's an imperfect comparison between the Hubbard and Sanders contracts.

And again, a lot of focus might be going toward the full sum of Hubbard's contract when it effectively keeps him in Carolina for only another year or two. Perhaps the Panthers wanted to hedge their bets a bit until they see Brooks, who has been out while recovering from a torn ACL, in action.

After suffering a surprising 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers this past Sunday, some New Orleans Saints players expressed their disappointment on social media.

However, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn found humor in their reactions and trolled the NFC South rivals when asked about their comments.

"We've been struggling for a little minute, so I think guys just like to take their shots at us when we're down. But the Saints, I don't know if buddy thinks they're the Chiefs or whoever he thinks they're supposed to be, but that ain't nothing," Horn told reporters. "They lost the game, so that's all I'm gonna say about that."

Some Saints players were crashing out after the Panthers beat them on Sunday but Jaycee Horn clapped back.
“I don’t know if buddy thinks they’re the Chiefs or whoever he thinks they’re supposed to be but…” pic.twitter.com/8giMISMKUx

— Sheena Quick (@Sheena_Marie3) November 6, 2024

After Sunday's loss, Saints veteran defensive end Cam Jordan tweeted that he "truly had higher expectations" for the team.

We just lost to the panthers… I love y’all New Orleans truly had higher expectations and the best of hopes for us, y’all deserve it.

— Cam Jordan (@camjordan94) November 3, 2024

The loss extended New Orleans' losing streak to seven straight games, giving the team an identical 2-7 record to Carolina and dropping it to last place in the division.

Things won't get easier for the Saints this week, as they will be facing the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons (6-2) on Sunday. The Panthers, who ended a five-game skid with its win over the Saints, will be facing the New York Giants (2-7) in Germany on Sunday morning.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales confirmed the team is activating rookie running back Jonathon Brooks.

Canales said the team hasn't made any decisions over Brooks' availability for Sunday's game against the New York Giants in Munich. It needs to see how he performs at practice over the next few days.

Jonathon Brooks will be activated to the 53-man roster today. pic.twitter.com/0Rq8eESo7W

— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) November 6, 2024

The Panthers knew when they selected Brooks with the No. 46 overall pick that it would be a while before they'd see a tangible return on their investment. He tore his ACL a little less than a year ago as a junior at Texas.

Carolina signaled in mid-October that Brooks was in the final stages of his recovery when it opened the 21-day window for him to practice before either being activated or placed on season-long injured reserve.

"This is really a 12-month recovery for this injury," he told reporters. "So, for me to be back in 11 months, it feels like I feel good. I just say the progress that I've made from going back when I first heard it, I didn't know it was — obviously like everybody overreacts, but it seemed like I wasn't even going to be able to play a game."

The Panthers have been leaning on Chuba Hubbard as their No. 1 option on the ground. The fourth-year back has gone for 665 yards and five touchdowns on the ground through nine games.

With the team sitting at 2-7, there's almost no chance Carolina can climb back into a playoff position. The rest of the season is about laying the groundwork for 2025, so having Brooks in the backfield could at least generate some excitement about next year.

Depending on how he performs, the former Longhorns star might also have a big impact in a lot of fantasy football leagues.

Carolina Panthers veteran quarterback Andy Dalton is continuing to make progress in his recovery from a recent car crash, but the team will be sticking with second-year signal-caller Bryce Young for a bit longer.

Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Wednesday that Young will draw the start for the Panthers in their Week 10 showdown against the New York Giants in Germany.

Dave Canales: Bryce Young will start at QB vs. Giants.
"This is about progress from one week to the next."

— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 6, 2024

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler initially reported that Young appeared "to have momentum to get a third consecutive start despite Andy Dalton's improving health" as the Panthers prepare to face the Giants.

Young threw for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a Week 8 loss to the Denver Broncos and recorded 171 yards, a touchdown and an interception in this past Sunday's win over the New Orleans Saints, which ended Carolina's five-game losing streak.

The 2023 No. 1 pick appears to still be struggling to adjust to life in the NFL, but the Panthers need to determine if he's truly their quarterback of the future. Young's development over the latter half of the season will go a long way toward helping Carolina decide if it needs another reset as the franchise continues its rebuild.

The Panthers will be facing a Giants defense that allows just 191.6 passing yards per game, so Young could be in for a tough test on Sunday.

After Dennis Allen's New Orleans Saints firing, the team's general manager Mickey Loomis called Allen a "fantastic football coach" and addressed the causes that led to his dismissal.

In an interview with WWL-AM (h/t Nola.com's Matthew Paras), Loomis pointed out the injuries the Saints have had to deal with this season and said they put "pressure and stress" on the team.

"It just gets right back to what stares at you right in the face is that we've had an abnormal amount of injuries, including to our quarterback, and we haven't been able to overcome that, and so that puts pressure and stress on the organization and ultimately it was cause for a change," Loomis said.

The Saints won their first two games of the season in dominant fashion before losing seven straight. Their latest disappointing loss to the Carolina Panthers was the final straw for New Orleans as it dismissed Allen on Monday.

Saints owner Gayle Benson called the firing a decision "I felt we needed to make," per Paras, a statement that Loomis did not say whether he agreed with.

Allen, who took over as the Saints head coach in 2022 following Sean Payton's exit, went 18-25 in his time at the helm.

"The organization will always be near and dear to my heart and I am disappointed the results weren't better," Allen said after his firing, per ESPN's Katherine Terrell. "... I wish everyone with the Saints the best of luck and success going forward."

Darren Rizzi will now take over as New Orleans' interim head coach and try to reverse what has been a disastrous start.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles explained his thought process in kicking the extra point to tie the game rather than trying to go for two after his team scored a late touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaking to reporters following a 30-24 overtime loss, Bowles said he thought the wet field conditions at Arrowhead Stadium made it more conducive to playing for overtime instead of trying to win in regulation.

"We wanted to get into overtime with the wet conditions on the field, we thought we had to go into overtime instead of going for two. We had our shots. We lost the game," Bowles said.

After Tampa Bay kicked the extra point to tie the score, the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and drove 70 yards in 10 plays. Kareem Hunt's two-yard touchdown run ended the game with the Bucs never touching the ball in the overtime period.

THE CHIEFS WALK IT OFF IN OVERTIME! 😤

Kareem Hunt punches in the game-winner 💪 pic.twitter.com/oa2UnPm1aB

— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2024

The Buccaneers were trailing 24-17 when they got the ball back with 2:17 remaining after forcing a three-and-out. Baker Mayfield engineered a 10-play, 71-yard drive that was capped off with Ryan Miller's touchdown with 27 seconds to play in regulation.

Bucs tie it up!

📺: #TBvsKC on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/0DNnfIWTPd

— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2024

While there are some teams it's easy to justify taking the point and playing for overtime, the history of Patrick Mahomes says that the Chiefs are not among them.

Mahomes has a 6-0 overtime record in the regular season, with the Chiefs winning the coin toss in five of those games. One person who knew that playing for overtime was a bad idea was Mayfield based on his reaction when Kansas City won the toss.

Baker's reaction to Mahomes and the Chiefs winning the OT coin toss 😅 pic.twitter.com/75hS7WFcTU

— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2024

Bowles' logic for taking the extra point to play for overtime was deeply flawed, beyond the Mahomes factor. If you are playing on a wet field, that would seem to offer more incentive to end the game as soon as possible.

Instead, Bowles took the conservative route and wound up paying for it. The Bucs are reeling now and face an uphill climb to make the playoffs.

After a strong 4-2 start this season that included a win over the Detroit Lions in Week 2, the Buccaneers have lost three straight games. They are two games behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South, with Atlanta having swept the regular-season series between the clubs.

There is good news for the Bucs because their schedule does ease up for a few weeks soon. They have a difficult matchup with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday before winnable games against the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers and Las Vegas Raiders.

It's possible the Buccaneers get Mike Evans back from a hamstring injury before their Week 12 game against the Giants to boost the offense.

The sky isn't totally falling for Bowles and the Bucs after Monday's loss, but it was a missed opportunity to at least not play for the win at the end of regulation on the road against the undefeated Chiefs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not make many friends at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium ahead of Monday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

As Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star shared, the NFC South team gathered at their opponent's midfield logo ahead of the opening kickoff and drew plenty of boos in the process:

After warmups, the Bucs gathered at the Chiefs midfield logo amid boos from the crowd. pic.twitter.com/R1VrTNN60Z

— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) November 5, 2024

It's not as if the Buccaneers and Chiefs are division rivals, but the visitors may have been looking to set the tone against a daunting opponent.

After all, Kansas City is 7-0 on the season and attempting to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. Figuring out Patrick Mahomes and Co. has been an impossible task thus far, and Baker Mayfield's club will try to become the first one to do so this season.

Mayfield has figured out a team with Mahomes in the past, as Monday is a familiar matchup for college football fans who remember their legendary Big 12 showdown:

Mahomes & Baker had the wildest CFB duel EVER 🤯

Can they do it again tonight? pic.twitter.com/lIvMO40Jbb

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) November 5, 2024

It's safe to say Kansas City's defense will put up more of a fight than Texas Tech's did.

Mayfield also won't have wide receivers Mike Evans or Chris Godwin available because of injuries, which will make the task all the more difficult.

But the Buccaneers weren't afraid to fire up the crowd before the game. Now they will look to silence it during the game.