Chris Godwin Could Be Out Longer Than Initially Anticipated

Tampa Bay Buccaneers star wide receiver Chris Godwin underwent surgery on a fractured index finger. He suffered the injury catching a touchdown pass in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Initially it looked like Godwin would only miss Week 8, but recent comments from head coach Bruce Arians cast some doubt on that. The fourth-year wideout could be looking at a multi-week absence, unfortunately.

Arians didn't say anything too definitive, but the fact that he's already unsure about his status for Week 9 certainly isn't a good sign.

He also referenced Antonio Brown, who will be eligible to suit up next Sunday assuming all goes as planned. That means Brown could be thrown into the fire immediately, receiving a far bigger workload than initially anticipated in his debut, a Week 9 matchup with the division-rival New Orleans Saints.

With both Brown and Godwin on the shelf for Week 8, expect Mike Evans, Scotty Miller and Rob Gronkowski to carry the load against a beatable New York Giants' defense. Both Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette could be looking at an increased workload as well.

Even without Godwin, Tampa Bay is currently a sizable 13-point favorite over New York in Week 8 on FanDuel Sportsbook. The Bucs shouldn't have much trouble scraping by on Monday Night Football.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.