Todd Bowles praises Trey Palmer – JoeBucsFan.com

Trey Palmer (10) and Rachaad White celebrate Palmer's 15-yard touchdown catch on Sunday.

After a solid game to start the season, Bucs rookie receiver Jalen McMillan has sort of disappeared. But on Sunday, a few teammates stepped in when McMillan couldn't go.

McMillen had two big catches, one each in Weeks 2 and 3, but that's not a great performance.

McMillan suffered a hamstring injury on Friday and was unable to play yesterday. So the Bucs left two receivers in the void.

The first was the speedy Trey Palmer. He made a great catch with Darius Slay overpowering him and scored a 15-yard touchdown on the Bucs' second possession. Palmer didn't last much longer as he suffered a concussion. But it seemed like Bucs coach Todd Bowles wanted people to know about Palmer's contribution.

“The ball that Baker Mayfield threw to Trey (Palmer) was right there,” Bowles explained. “The DB had great reporting on this. I think it was (Darius) Slay, but it was a great catch.”

That was Palmer's biggest bugbear: inconsistent hands. If Palmer finds a way to consistently catch the ball, it will be difficult to keep his wheels off the field.

Then there was Mayfield's old Oklahoma teammate Sterling Shephard, who effectively replaced Palmer after the Nebraska product left the game.

Shephard finished with three catches, each averaging 17 yards.

“It’s just fun to have his energy in the group,” Mayfield said. “(He's) someone who's played a lot of ball, who's obviously made a lot of progress, and so has Kam (Johnson).

“With Trey (Palmer) injuring himself, these guys obviously took a huge step. (I'm) proud of these guys, especially 'Shep'.”

At least the Bucs showed on Sunday that they are good at receiver defense. McMillan couldn't suit up and the proverbial next man up, Palmer, delivered.

When Palmer left, the next man up, Shepard, rose to the occasion.

Even Kameron Johnson didn't embarrass himself, unless you call dropping a touchdown pass an embarrassment.

So it was good for the Bucs to showcase their receiver depth. No wonder Bowles wanted people to know how well Palmer scored six points.

Baker to Trey Palmer! The Bucs go 14-0.

📺: #PHIvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/HH5869xGoi

– NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024