Buccaneers Mike Evans suspended for cheap shot against the Saints

Bucs WR Mike Evans will sit out a game for his cheap shot on Saints Marshon Lattimore.

As you may or may not recall, Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans decided to take out some frustration on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday that landed him a one-game suspension.

The NFL handed down the punishment on Monday after Evans took a cheap shot to Saints rookie CB Marshon Lattimore on Sunday. To refresh your memory, the whole ordeal was actually started by Lattimore and Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston.

Apparently, Winston didn’t take too lightly a play that Lattimore made and he walked toward Lattimore and poked him in his helmet. When Lattimore turned around and shoved Winston, Evans came out of nowhere and leveled possibly the cheapest shot in the NFL this season.

Relive the drama below.

Amazingly, Evans didn’t get ejected. But a day later, the league ruled that he won’t take the field when the Bucs face the New York Jets next week. The NFL office sent a press release stating his suspension and the specific reason for it: Violations of unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules.

Evans certainly broke both of those rules, though some fans in Bucs nation may not agree with the ruling and may say that he was simply trying to protect his QB. And from some vantage points, that makes sense.

On the other hand, from what we saw on Sunday, the whole incident between Lattimore and Winston that caused Evans to throw the CB to the ground like it was a WWE match was instigated by Winston. Not exactly under attack. And now not only were Winston’s shenanigans worthless, but they got his star receiver suspended for a game.

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The Evans shove was just another incident in a free-falling season in Tampa Bay. When you’re getting blown out and your season is flushing down the toilet with a quickness, frustrations can boil to the surface, which is likely what resulted in that ugly episode on Sunday.

At least Evans will get a chance to cool off for a week.