Todd Bowles isn’t second-guessing the potentially season-changing decision to have Chris Godwin on the field late Monday night in a game the Buccaneers had virtually no shot to win.
Godwin suffered what Bowles described as a dislocated left ankle that “doesn’t look good” while trailing by 10 with roughly one minute left in the 41-31 home loss to the Ravens.
The veteran was carted off the field and is “quite possibly” lost for the season, according to NFL Network, and he’s scheduled to undergo ankle surgery later this week, according to another NFL Network report.
“He’s a player, we’re trying to win the ball game,” Bowles said. “We were still down 10. We’re trying to get extra points and kick another onside kick, it just happened.”
Bowles has come under fire for having Godwin on the field late in Monday’s game since the Ravens had a 99.9 percent chance of winning the game at that point, per ESPN’s win probability tool.
Some questioned whether chasing that 0.01 percent chance of a win was worth the potential downside, which in this case meant losing one of the NFL’s top receivers this season.
Bowles explained that the Buccaneers had limited options since Mike Evans went down with a hamstring injury earlier in the game, leaving them with four receivers.
The game also technically wasn’t over since the Buccaneers had already recovered one onside kick and just needed points on the drive to have a shot at tying or winning the game.
Tampa Bay ultimately did not score on the drive.
Bowles downplayed the idea that Godwin should have been shelved for the final drive since the team already may be without Evans for the foreseeable future.
“You could say that because he got hurt. We don’t second-guess,” Bowles said. “We got our guys, we’re playing everybody we got. It’s unfortunate he got hurt and we feel bad about that but he’s a football player and he wanted to be in the game, just like (quarterback) Baker (Mayfield) and everybody else wanted to be in the game.”
Bowles also disagreed with the idea he may not have been protecting his players even if they wanted to be on the field for that last drive.
“I do protect my players, all the time,” Bowles said. “It has nothing to do with why we left him in the ball game. We still had a shot to score some points and win the ball game. It happened. It happens in football.”
The Buccaneers now face the prospect of trying to win the NFC South without Godwin and they may have to stay afloat while Evans deals with his hamstring injury.
Godwin ranks first in targets and second in receiving yards in the league.
Bowles noted that the team will see what trade options are available, with the Jets’ Mike Williams known as one receiver on the trade block although he does not fill the slot role Godwin occupied.
The Buccaneers are 2.5-point home underdogs for Week 8 against the division-leading Falcons in a game that could determine which team wins the division.
“Our prayers are out for him,” Bowles said. “Chris is a hell of a player and he’s hell of a human being, more so than that. There’s not much you can say. You feel bad for him. Unfortunately, they’re not going to cancel the games and we got to stop up and move on. But our hearts are heavy.”
