LANDOVER, Md. – By now, you've probably realized that Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wide receiver Mike Evans is a pretty talented guy.
But Evans brings more skills than you realize. As it turns out, Evans can call plays. That's what he did on the first of his two touchdown catches in Sunday's 27-7 victory over Washington.
Technically, the play was called by quarterbacks coach Marcus Arroyo. But Evans put a new wrinkle on it as he went in motion and shouted to quarterback Josh McCown.
"We had a route called and it was something he was going to add on to it," McCown said. "We had talked about it, possibly, on the sideline. It was truly a last-second adjustment there and he made a great play."
Evans did pretty much whatever he wanted all day. He finished with seven catches for 209 yards, just nine yards short of the franchise record for receiving yards in a game. Evans' performance was historically good. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he became the first rookie receiver to record three straight 100-yard games with at least one touchdown since Randy Moss in 1998.
"Randy Moss was my favorite receiver," Evans said. "I just watched his '30 for 30' last night. It's great to be mentioned in the same caliber as him, but the win is more important than anything."
The win might not have come without Evans' big day. Tampa Bay (2-8) had blown five fourth-quarter leads this season. But Evans almost singlehandedly made sure it didn't happen again by putting the game too far out of reach.
Evans' first touchdown came with 4 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter and it gave the Bucs a 20-7 lead. He followed that up with a 56-yard touchdown catch with 14:07 left in the fourth quarter. Coach Lovie Smith said he has never seen a rookie dominate the way Evans did.
"I have been in the league for a while and I just know that I haven't been with one that has been able to do some of the things he's done," Smith said. "He's still young. I've seen him grow so much. Lot of potential and really just competing hard. It will be a lot of fun to see his development."
McCown, a 13-year veteran, said Evans already is a special player.
"Obviously, Mike being the seventh pick [overall], you expect it more," McCown said. "But certainly to take over and do the things he did today is special. It's going to help our football team win games."
