Buccaneers receiver Jalen McMillan played only four games last season after a scary neck injury that not only nearly ended his season but also jeopardized his career. McMillan fractured three vertebrae and had herniated discs after landing on his head in a preseason game.
He caught 12 passes for 178 yards to close out last season.
“I am happy,” McMillan said last week, via Matt Matera of Pewter Report. “Just to be out there and to catch balls from Baker [Mayfield] and just to run on my feet, I feel good. . . . I am definitely taking appreciation for the small things and celebrating small wins and call my mom and dad every day. I am not taking any relationship for granted, so life has been good.
“I had to sit in my bed and wonder, ‘Is my neck going to heal correctly?’ So, as soon as I was given the opportunity to play again, I knew that I could not look back and there was no time to be nervous and no time to be thinking about anything.”
The Bucs made McMillan a third-round pick in 2024, and he made 37 receptions for 461 yards and eight touchdowns in 13 games.
The team needs that McMillan this season with Mike Evans now in San Francisco.
“Jalen’s tough. His mental toughness is unbelievable,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “His competitiveness, the way he attacks the ball, the way he fights for every route and tries to get open and wants to be ‘that guy,’ you know, that gives you a lot of confidence that he’ll be doing that in the games.”
With the World Cup starting next month, many of the teams will be playing tuneup games before the competition commences.
In Tampa, England could be playing before an intimate collection of fans.
Per the Telegraph (via Sports Business Journal), the England-New Zealand match to be played on June 6 could have more than 50,000 empty seats at Raymond James Stadium.
So far, only 13,000 tickets have been sold. The cheapest tickets prices are $72.
Here’s an idea: Slash the prices. Make it cheap it get in. If nothing else, it could attract folks who aren’t as interested in soccer as they could be, after attending a match.
England will have another so-called “friendly” on June 10 in Orlando. In the 25,000-seat venue, only 12,000 tickets have been sold.
As more new stadiums are built and existing stadiums are renovated, there will always be a next wave of aging stadiums to be replaced or revamped.
In Tampa, the local NFL team is hoping for a massive overhaul of a stadium that opened in 1998.
Via Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Sports Authority President and CEO Eric Hart said he expects the Buccaneers to seek a renovation that will cost between $700 million and $1.3 billion.
The Buccaneers reportedly have floated the notion of footing the bill for one third of the expenses, with the public picking up the rest of the tab.
Complicating the situation is the fact that a new stadium for the MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays will impact the capacity to devote taxpayer money to a renovation of the football stadium. Via Emma Behrmann of the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the baseball venue is expected to include $976 million in public funding.
While the renovation will be pricey, it’s always more expensive to build a new stadium. The real question is the extent to which a major renovation will extend the overall life of the facility. At some point, it will make more sense to just build something new.
That’s the way it will continue to go. As better stadiums are built in other cities, pressure will build on other teams to do the same. It’s a cycle that will continue for as long as the NFL remains the powerhouse product it has become.
Or until enough cities and states refuse to do it, even if (for some) that entails a risk that the franchise will relocate.
The Buccaneers lost the best wide receiver in franchise history when Mike Evans left in free agency, and now head coach Todd Bowles wants to see who steps up to replace him.
“They’re talented,” Bowles said. “We know they’ve got a lot of talent right there. Any time you lose a player like that, or any player that was legendary on their team, different guys got to come in and step up. That’s the nature of sports, and I’m sure we have some guys in that room that will.”
Bowles said wide receiver Jalen McMillan has looked good in the offseason program.
“Jalen’s tough. His mental toughness is unbelievable,” Bowles said. “His competitiveness, the way he attacks the ball, the way he fights for every route and wants to get open and be that guy, that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Bowles also said wide receiver Chris Godwin, who has missed more games than he’s played the last two seasons, is healthy and looks ready to have a big year.
“Chris has been great. He’s in great shape, he’s healthy, he’s working out, he’s tough, he’s very smart,” Bowles said. “He looks good.”
No one will make Buccaneers fans forget Evans, but if the Buccaneers get good seasons from McMillan and Godwin, and last year’s impressive rookie Emeka Egbuka continues to improve, they could have as good a corps of wide receivers without Evans as they had with him.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles will get to catch up with one of his former teams this summer.
Bowles said at a Tuesday press conference that the Bucs have set up a pair of joint practices with the Jets before the two teams play in the first week of the preseason. Bowles was the head coach of the Jets from 2015-2018.
There will likely be workouts with the Jaguars before the final game of the preseason as well.
“We lined it up with the Jets and we’re in the process of trying to line it up with the Jaguars, as well,” Bowles said, via the team’s website. “We’ll probably just play Kansas City.”
The Bucs practiced with both of the AFC teams ahead of the 2023 season as well.
