You can always rely on Mike Evans to stand up for his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates, especially quarterback Tom Brady.
Doing so doesn't come without consequences sometimes, though.
The veteran wide receiver saw Brady being pushed by New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore in the fourth quarter of Sunday's Week 2 game and intervened. Evans ran toward Lattimore and shoved him to the ground, sparking a fight between the two teams. Lattimore and Evans were ejected from the game, which Tampa Bay won 20-10 at Caesars Superdome.
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Evans was suspended one game by the NFL on Monday for his actions with Lattimore. A suspension that was upheld by James Thrash, the NFL-NFLPA jointly appointed appeals officer, on Wednesday.
It's the second time he's been suspended one game for an altercation involving Lattimore. The first happened in 2017.
Based on video from FOX Sports' broadcast of the game, it appeared that Evans was telling the officials after the skirmish ended, "That's Tom Brady, what do you expect me to do?"
NFL
What caused Evans to go at Lattimore?
"I know we were trying to get a flag called or whatever, and it wasn't called. All I see is Lattimore punching (Leonard Fournette) in the face or something like that and then pushed Tom," Evans told reporters, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. "That’s all I saw. I just pushed him."
Evans also was seen greeting his teammates, including Brady, in the tunnel following his team's victory.
Brady gave a shoutout to Evans in an Instagram post Monday afternoon:
Evans has received plenty of praise for his defense of Brady. Wrestling legend Rick Flair tweeted at Evans, saying, "My MAN!!! Much Respect! WOOOOO!" NBA star Ja Morant quote tweeted a video of Evans and wrote "real one".
The Buccaneers host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 3.