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The Bucs had some updated news from head coach Todd Bowles about the status of wide receiver Jalen McMillan and his neck injury. Unfortunately, McMillan is going to miss the beginning of the regular season because of a “severe” neck strain that he suffered from a scary hit in the first quarter of the preseason game against the Steelers on Saturday night.

UPDATE:

Reports coming from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times state that the Bucs are going to place McMillan on injured reserve once the regular season begins. It is likely that McMillan will be out until at least Week 9 when the Bucs have their bye week. Pewter Report can confirm the report and the plans by Tampa Bay.

Bucs Get Bad News About Jalen McMillan

“He’s got a severely strained neck,” Todd Bowles said. “He’s going to miss some time.”

When asked if he will miss the start of the regular season, Bowles replied: “Yeah, he’s going to miss some time. It’s a severe strain.”

The good news on the prognosis is that Bowles also answered that it “shouldn’t be” a career threatening injury.

McMillan came out to practice after it already began and was still wearing a neck brace. He made a jumping catch on Saturday night and was flipped while still in air, landing on the back of his head.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: USA Today

This puts the Bucs in a real bind as Chris Godwin and now Jalen McMillan will be out for at least the foreseeable future. Tampa Bay knows that Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka will be their one-two combination, but it leaves a lot of questions for who will third through fifth string behind them.

What Do The Bucs Have Left At WR?

Sterling Shepard is likely to be wide receiver three, although the Bucs will likely cut him when roster cuts arrive and then put him on the practice squad to then call him up as a game day elevation. This is because since he is a vested veteran, if he is on the active roster on the first day of practice, his entire contract becomes guaranteed.

Bucs WR Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

That leaves Tez Johnson, Ryan Miller, Trey Palmer, and Garrett Greene fighting for the last couple of spots. There is still Rakim Jarrett and Kameron Johnson, but Jarrett hasn’t provided much in preseason and Johnson is just returning from injury.

What was a strength now becoming a thinning room at wide receiver. There is only so much that Tampa Bay can do in this situation.

“We’re going to need guys to step up,” Todd Bowles said. “With Chris down and then Jalen going down, a lot of guys have stepped up and we got to see them step up even more so. The depth was well needed and there’s still some decisions to make after the game against Buffalo.”

Pewter Report will continue to monitor the news as it unfolds and discuss the news further on an emergency Pewter Report Podcast episode LIVE from One Buccaneer Place: