Mike Evans explains what led to altercation, ejection vs Saints
Mike Evans made headlines on Sunday as he was ejected for an altercation with New Orleans Saints defensive back Marshon Lattimore.
The fight broke out after a frustrated Tom Brady turned back to the field in response to chatter from the Saints corner. Then, Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette got involved in the back-and-fourth with Brady before the Tampa Bay wide receiver rushed in to knock Lattimore to the ground.
Back in 2017, Evans was suspended for an encounter with Lattimore. However, he doesn’t believe what happened this time warrants the same punishment.
“Naw, naw, naw, naw,” Evans said, via video from Jenna Laine of ESPN, speaking regarding a possible suspension. “It was terrible in 2017. I didn’t even get ejected, and that was really a cheap shot. This wasn’t. He punched my teammate in the face, and I just pushed him to the ground.”
The Bucs and the Saints were locked in a 3-3 battle in the fourth quarter at the time of the fight. After the ejection, however, Brady showed he could go win the game without Evans. Brady completed a touchdown pass to Breshard Perriman to make it a 7-point game with 7:40 remaining.
Prior to the ejection, the former Texas A&M standout had three catches for 61 yards. So far this season, he has eight catches for 132 yards and one touchdown.
Continuing, Evans explained what he believes led to the ejection, and why he was so heated with Lattimore once again.
“All I seen is, I know we were like trying to get a flag called or whatever, and it wasn’t called, and all I seen is like Lattimore he like punched Lenny [Fournette] in the face or something like that and then like pushed Tom [Brady],” stated Evans. “That’s all I saw. I just pushed him.
“I was just trying to have my teammate’s back. All I seen was him punch somebody in the face, and I said, ‘I ain’t going to let that happen.’”
Regardless of their reasonings, the NFC South stars will await word on possible fines and suspensions, but both squads will turn their attention to Week 3. The Buccaneers will welcome Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers to town, while the Saints will travel to take one of their other division rivals in the Panthers in Carolina.
As for the rematch between the Saints and Buccaneers, Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore won’t be on the same field once again until December, when New Orleans will take their show on the road to Tampa Bay. It remains to be seen what the stakes of the game are, but there’s no doubt emotions will run high when these two teams meet once again.