Fans Ask Why Buccaneers’ Coach Was Playing Chris Godwin At End Of Out-Of-Reach Game After Season-Ending Ankle Dislocation

Tampa Bay Buccanneers wide receiver Chris Godwin dislocated his ankle during a Monday Night Football loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Due to the severity and grotesque nature of the injury, ESPN refused to show a replay. Godwin needed to be carted off the field with his leg in an air cast.

The play occurred with the Bucs down ten, 41-31, with less than a minute remaining in the contest. Ravens linebacker Roquon Smith wrapped Godwin up from behind, causing the dislocation. The NFL stated it would review the hit as a hip-drop tackle, which the league is trying to outlaw because of the risk of severe injury like what happened to Godwin.

The former Penn State receiver was second in the NFL in receiving yards, looking primed for a massive payday as he hits free agency in the off-season. He is expected to miss the remainder of the campaign; however, Godwin left the door open for a possible return deep in the post-season, although extremely unlikely. The Bucs will also miss Mike Evans, their other star receiver, for four weeks due to a re-aggression of a hamstring injury that also occurred last Monday.

With the game out of reach, fans around the league wanted head coach Todd Bowles to explain why Godwin remained in the game in the first place.

“You could say that because he got hurt. We don’t second-guess. 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.”

With the defeat, Tampa dropped to 4-3 on the year and will face the Atlanta Falcons at home this weekend. The winner of the game will move into first place in the NFC South, taking the inside track to win the division, given this is the final meeting between the sides this year.