Tampa Bay Buccaneers without another injured star against Atlanta Falcons

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' receiving corps has shrunk for Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles ruled out receiver Mike Evans during his press conference on Tuesday. Evans, who has battled a hamstring injury in the last two games, limped to the locker room in the second quarter of Monday night's 41-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Evans did not return to the game, and OnSI's JC Allen initially reported that Evans likely won't return until after the team's bye in Week 11. Tampa Bay's injury problems extended beyond Evans, as star receiver Chris Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle with 43 seconds left in a 10-point game.

The 31-year-old Evans is a key loss to Tampa Bay's offense, as he caught five passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns in the two teams' first meeting against Atlanta. In 19 career games against the Falcons, Evans has caught 97 passes for 1,469 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Before the Week 5 matchup, Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake called Evans a first-ballot Hall of Fame player, noting that he had posted more than 1,000 yards in 10 consecutive seasons.

Lake believes the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Evans challenges defenses in a variety of ways.

“He has great size for a wide receiver,” Lake said. “He has great stretching and jumping skills. He catches the ball extremely well. He tracks the ball really well. He's strong and physical, so he's able to take corners that are aimed at him with a big body, almost box him out and go up and get those 50-50 balls.

“So if you throw to Mike Evans, those quarterbacks are probably more likely to think it's probably 90-10 in his favor that he catches the ball, not 50-50. I mean, I could keep going.”

But now Lake doesn't have to game plan against Evans for the second meeting between the two teams.

Atlanta (4-3) and Tampa Bay (4-3) will battle for the NFC South lead at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.