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Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS — The highly-anticipated rematch featuring Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore was cut short Sunday with Evans leaving the game in the second quarter with a hamstring injury.
Evans who will not return to the game, had caught all three of his targets for 40 yards, with two of them — each 18-yard completions from quarterback Baker Mayfield — coming against Lattimore.
Evans also drew a pass interference call on Lattimore that aided the Bucs’ first touchdown.
The injury appeared to happen when Evans was running a post route against Lattimore with 1:43 to go before halftime — one play before rookie and Louisiana native Trey Palmer hauled in a 1-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 at the half.
Second-year wideout Deven Thompkins replaced Evans, who has been off to one of the better starts of his career with three touchdowns in the first three games.
Evans and Lattimore were both ejected for a bench-clearing brawl when they faced each other in Week 2 of the 2022 season.
Bucs starting safety Ryan Neal also left Sunday’s game after suffering a concussion on the second play. He also will not return.
Neal was attempting to tackle the Saints’ Rashid Shaheed on a screen pass and collided with Shaheed, wide receiver Lynn Bowden and teammate Zyon McCollum, with Neal tumbling underneath Bowden.
Neal was able to walk off the field with assistance from the training staff. He was first evaluated in the medical tent and then was taken to the locker room before he was declared out.
He was replaced by Dee Delaney, who had an interception last week vs. the Eagles. Delaney had stepped in for injured Jamel Dean, who suffered a neck/shoulder injury and did not make the trip to New Orleans.