Mike Evans Injury Update Paints Him as Game-Time Decision for Week 5

Mike Evans visibly fought through injuries last week to post a dominant 7-catch, 122-yard performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. He didn't have much time to recover for Week 5, though, as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.

Hours away from kickoff, we still don't know whether Evans will be able to play tonight. He's reportedly a true game-time decision, making this an important situation for fantasy managers to monitor.

For tonight’s #Bucs-#Bears game, TB WRs Mike Evans (ankle) and Scott Miller (hip/groin) are listed as questionable & Miller is expected to play, I’m told. As for Evans, he’ll work out pre-game to test his ankle. There is optimism Evans can go, too, but the workout is key.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 8, 2020

Mike Evans Fantasy Outlook

Evans will reportedly test his ankle in pre-game warmups to see if he's healthy enough to play. He's in a pretty tough spot even if he's ultimately active, though.

He's facing off against the league's fifth-best pass defense, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA metrics. Plus, there's always the chance he re-aggravates that ankle injury and leaves the game early. Evans is probably too good to bench regardless, but fantasy managers might want to temper their expectations if he's active.

Scotty Miller Fantasy Outlook

With Chris Godwin and OJ Howard out, Scotty Miller is a really interesting target this week. His value would only improve if Evans were to miss the game or be significantly limited.

Miller is coming off back-to-back strong performances. He's put up 83 receiving yards in two consecutive games now, finishing with 7 targets, 5 receptions 83 yards and a TD last week. There's a legitimate chance that Miller is Tom Brady's de-facto No. 1 receiver this week, and that should make him a really strong fantasy play, even against this stout defense.

If Evans is active, Miller is still a solid WR3 option.

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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.