Jalen McMillan — Week 3: One Target, Then Out With the Knee

Three to nothing, Vikings, nine oh five left in the first quarter, third and five at the Tampa Bay 45, the Buccaneers' first possession. Baker Mayfield threw short left for Jalen McMillan, 15 yards in the air, incomplete. −1.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. The play-by-play notes McMillan was injured on it. Tampa Bay punted on the next snap, and Myles Price returned it 86 yards for a Minnesota touchdown. McMillan was ruled out for the rest of the game with a knee injury, per ESPN.

The line: one target, no catches, no yards. It was his first target of the season. He missed Week 1, and in Week 2 he was active and not thrown to. After he left, Mayfield's other 33 throws were led by nine to Emeka Egbuka and six to Cade Otton.

Back in June the preview put McMillan on the watchlist: a four-game season last year behind a neck fracture, a strong December, a rookie year with eight touchdowns, and the outside receiver job Mike Evans left open, with the injury report as part of the watch. By Week 2 the health question had moved to a knee, and he was active after ESPN's Adam Schefter reported he would play through it without a full-time role. Sunday the knee took him out on his first target. Three weeks in, one target, and the question is availability again. Tampa Bay is home to the Packers on Sunday the fourth.

_Data via nflverse._