Latest news has update on injured Bucs starter going from bad to worse on Tuesday

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were unable to avoid the injury bug in their 17-14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night, as WR Jalen McMillan suffered a neck injury during the contest and isn't going to be ready for the start of the regular season.

As it turns out, the injury bug took out quite a bite of McMillan in the process. According to Tampa Bay Times Bucs reporter Rick Stroud, McMillan is being placed on injured reserve. McMillan suffered the neck injury when he landed awkwardly following a catch.

Jalen McMillan will be placed on injured reserve after suffering a “severely sprained neck,” against the Steelers and could be out past the Bucs Week 9 bye week, the Times has learned. Team still feels fortunate the injury wasn’t worse and have depth at WR starting with Mike…
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) August 19, 2025

By being placed on injured reserve, McMillan would be out for the Bucs' first four games of the season, eligible to return in Week Five at the earliest. However, according to Stroud, the possibility exists that he could be out through the first half of the entire season.

That puts an impetus on the return of Chris Godwin from an ankle injury, and that timetable has been murky from the coaching staff. The next man up appears to be the veteran Sterling Shepard, who Todd Bowles said on Tuesday has had "a hell of a training camp" this year for Tampa Bay. Shepard slots in at WR3, along with Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka going into the start of the season. That also opens up opportunities for players like Trey Palmer, Rakim Jarrett, Tez Johnson, Ryan Miller, and others.

"We're going to need guys to step up with Chris down and then Jalen going down," Bowles said. "A lot of guys have stepped up and we've got to see them step up even more. The depth was well needed, and we still have some decisions to make after this game against Buffalo."

The Bucs conclude their preseason on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills at Raymond James Stadium, after which Jason Licht, Bowles, and their staffs will work to get the roster down to 53 players by the deadline at 4:00 pm ET on Tuesday, August 26. We'll see this weekend if any of the wideouts can leave a lasting impression going into that time frame.

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