Godwin’s wife calls out Bucs for ‘blatantly lying’ about his snaps
TAMPA — Chris Godwin’s wife wants to know why the Bucs are “blatantly lying” about how an assortment of injuries limited the receiver’s number of snaps in Sunday’s win over the Panthers.
Godwin did not have a catch but scored a rushing touchdown in the 21-18 victory. But when Bucs coach Todd Bowles was asked about Godwin’s lack of targets Monday, Bowles blamed injuries that resulted in a reduction of playing time.
“We were subbing him out a lot,” Bowles said. “He’s a little nicked up, so he’s not totally 100%. Nobody is, but he is probably banged up more than most. For him to get the run for us was huge for him. I think it helped him out a lot, it helped us out a lot, so it was good to see him get in the end zone.”
But on Wednesday, Godwin’s wife, Mariah, pushed back on that narrative and brought receipts. Godwin actually played 52 of the Bucs’ 58 plays Sunday and had three targets but no catches. But that’s only a half snap less than the 52.5 Godwin has averaged through 12 games.
“I’m not sure why we are just blatantly lying here,” Mariah Godwin wrote on Instagram. “regardless of how banged up Chris is, he continues to work his ass off. hasn’t missed a game. continues to run great routes & get open. I don’t know why things are the way they are, this isn’t my team to coach. but this lying on Chris & implying negativity on his work ethic is infuriating. let’s not act like he had to be subbed out so much more than usual when in fact he’s been playing just the same.”
On Wednesday, Bowles didn’t exactly walk his statement back but indicated a new urgency to get Godwin the football.
“We’ve got to get him the ball,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball. I can’t tell you why it’s dipped. If he’s double-covered, obviously we can’t throw it to him. Certain things require us doing other things with other guys. Mike [Evans] has been playing well. We’ve got to keep Mike where he’s at and we’ve got to bring Chris along.”
Godwin has 53 catches for 606 yards and only one receiving touchdown this season under new offensive coordinator Dave Canales.