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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' thin wide receiving corps suffered another blow in their opening drive of their Thursday Night Football clash against the Atlanta Falcons, as rookie Kameron Johnson went down with an injury. The undrafted free agent picked up the injury on the first snap of the night and stayed on the floor for a while.
He was attended to by the Buccaneers' medical staff before he walked off gingerly to the sideline.
According to the team, the wide receiver suffered an ankle injury and his return to the game is questionable.
Johnson was playing in his fourth game for the Buccaneers and is yet to catch a pass. He was targeted only once in his first three games. While the numbers may suggest that the rookie wide receiver's injury isn't a massive blow to Tampa Bay's offense, they likely expected him to have some impact given the team's injury issues.
Buccaneers' WR depth chart vs. Falcons gets more limited with Kameron Johnson injury
The Buccaneers were already having a mini-crisis at the wide receiver position even before Kameron Johnson went down. Rakim Jarrett has been on the Injured Reverse list since the start of the season and is yet to recover from his quadriceps injury.
Starter Jalen McMillan suffered a hamstring injury in the lead-up to Tampa Bay's Thursday Night Football game against Atlanta and is forced to watch from the sidelines. Sophomore receiver Trey Palmer suffered a head injury in the Buccaneers' win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and has entered the NFL's concussion protocol, ruling him out for tonight's outing against the Falcons.
Kameron Johnson's injury means Tampa Bay is now missing four wide receivers from its depth chart. Five games into the season, Baker Mayfield's options have thinned heavily, putting the onus on veterans Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to carry the unit.
With their next game 10 days away, the Buccaneers will hope their injured receivers can get healthy and feature against the New Orleans Saints. However, Mayfield will have to make do with limited options on Thursday night against the Falcons.
