TAMPA, Fla. — On a team that doesn’t have much star power, Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans may be shining the brightest of any rookie this season.
Evans took over the game in the Bucs’ 27-7 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday, catching seven passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns.
After watching an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary Saturday night on former Minnesota Vikings great Randy Moss, Evans wanted to copy the swagger of one of his favorite receivers. It was appropriate, since Evans became the first rookie since Moss in 1998 to have three consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiving and one touchdown.
In fact, the last rookie to have 200 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns in a game was Anquan Boldin, who did it for the Arizona Cardinals in 2003.
More Top Picks Home Printer
“I didn’t do Cam (Newton); I did the Randy Moss,” Evans said. “I did that in college; I did that a couple times here.
“The swagger (Moss) plays with, he has fun with the game and I try to do that and model that. Yeah, I try to. Talk a little smack, whenever I score, have fun. Things like that.”
Certainly, his teammates were impressed.
“I played with A.J. (Green), played with Chad (Ochocinco), played with Terrell (Owens),” left tackle Anthony Collins said. “Mike will be the next one. He’s really good, and he’s learning from a veteran in Vincent Jackson. It’s going to be real beautiful.”
Evans is learning on the fly while running the fly pattern. Take his first touchdown Sunday.
While going in motion in the third quarter, Evans noticed the Redskins were playing a Cover 2 trap, meaning the cornerback was likely to drop like it’s another coverage before settling down and flat because he knew he had help over top with the safety.
“The first touchdown, we were laughing,” quarterback Josh McCown said. “He was going in motion and he was asking me about doing something and so I’m telling him while he’s in motion, ‘Yeah, yeah, do that, do that, do that.’
“We had a route called and it was something he was going to add to it. We talked about it possibly on the sideline. So it was truly a last-second adjustment there, and he made a great play.”
Evans blew past cornerback Bashaud Breeland and got up on safety Ryan Clark too quickly for him to help out. The result was a 36-yard touchdown that gave the Bucs some cushion at 20-7.
“I was motioning over, and I said, ‘Josh, just throw it up,'” Evans said. “He said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ We got the coverage we wanted, and he threw a good ball.”
McCown was a teammate of Boldin with the Cardinals when he had his 200-yard receiving effort in the 2003 season opener.
“I was there that day Anquan did that,” McCown said. “I think Anquan caught like one ball in the preseason. It was opening day and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Geez, this guy, we’ve got something special.’ Obviously, Mike being the seventh pick, you expect it more, I guess. But certainly to take over and do the things he did today, it’s special.”