The Chris Godwin injury: Heartbreaking, devastating and unnecessary

TAMPA — The game was lost, the Bucs were just too stubborn to admit it.

And because of that, the season may be lost as well.

Hoping for a comeback that would have registered high on the miracle scale, the Bucs lost star receiver Chris Godwin to a dislocated ankle in the final minute of a 41-31 loss to the Ravens on Monday night.

“It’s the terrible reality of this game,” tight end Cade Otton said later.

In nearly a half-century of Buccaneers football, there may not be a more haunting image than Godwin on his hands and knees, head hung low in a nearly silent stadium as a utility cart was brought out to take him away.

It was heartbreaking. It was unimaginable. It was unnecessary.

Tampa Bay was down 41-18 with less than four minutes remaining in that game. The Ravens had already gone into cruise control, pulling quarterback Lamar Jackson and playing a prevent defense to wind the clock down as quickly as possible.

The Bucs scored one touchdown, recovered an onside kick and scored another touchdown before using all three of their timeouts while the Ravens all but took a knee on offense.

By the time Tampa Bay got the ball back, they were 75 yards away from the end zone, had 94 seconds remaining and still needed two scores without a timeout.

“We don’t second-guess,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “We got our guys, we’re playing everybody we got. Unfortunately, he got hurt. We feel bad about that, but he’s a football player. He wants to be in the game like Baker (Mayfield) and everybody else.”

And yet, nine months ago the Bucs were trailing Detroit 31-23 in an NFC divisional playoff game with 93 seconds remaining and declined to use their final timeout to potentially force the Lions to kick a clinching field goal in the final minute.

“It’s kind of pointless,” Bowles said at the time.

If trying to win that game was pointless, this one was utterly senseless. Unlike the playoff game, the Bucs had reason to think about the future on Monday night. In six days, they would be playing the Falcons in a pivotal game that could decide the NFC South.

And now they’ll go into the game without Godwin and potentially Mike Evans, who left Monday night’s game with a hamstring injury in the first half.

“It sucks,” linebacker Yaya Diaby said. “It sucks, but at the end of the day we have a division game coming up and that’s our focus.”

Maybe it will be their focus today, but late Monday night hardly anyone in the Bucs locker room seemed interested in games to come.

Godwin, 28, is one of the most beloved players in a Tampa Bay uniform. He’s selfless, humble and absolutely devoted to his craft. His reputation around the league is pristine, enough so that Baltimore coach John Harbaugh stopped outside the Bucs locker room to offer Godwin a hug and encouragement late into the evening.

Three years ago, Godwin suffered a knee injury that could have ended his career but worked relentlessly to get back to peak health.

He came into Monday night’s game with some of the best numbers of his career while playing in the final year of his contract.

“It’s devastating,” said cornerback Zyon McCollum. “As an athlete who sees injuries all the time and knows the risks, it was still hard to watch. We’ve seen him work so hard to get back to where he is. Hopefully, it’s not as bad as it looked.”

It’s a violent game. Fans know it, and players live with it. Career-ending injuries, unfortunately, are part of the sport.

And Bowles is right. Players want to be on the field and do not give in easily to losing.

You could also argue that if Godwin and Mayfield and Tristan Wirfs were pulled off the field in the final minutes, then younger, less accomplished players would be in danger in their place. A coach cannot protect everyone.

However, it is a coach’s job to weigh that risk versus the potential reward when it comes to a team’s future fortunes. And Bowles failed in that sense Monday night.

The chances of winning that game were infinitesimal, and the outcome of the Atlanta game was far more important to Tampa Bay’s season.

Maybe the Bucs will rebound, but it’s hard to imagine with Godwin, and potentially Evans, unavailable.

“You don’t want to see any of your teammates go down,” said Diaby. “But he’s such a good person, such an impactful player, and he was having an amazing year. It was a really, really hard moment. All we can do is pray for him and his family now.”

John Romano can be reached at jromano@tampabay.com. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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