Liam Coen: New opportunities with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin out

The Buccaneers and Falcons will be facing off for the second time this season when they hit the field on Sunday, but Tampa won’t have the same look on offense this time around.

Wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are out with injuries they suffered in Week Seven and that leaves offensive coordinator Liam Coen with a lot of work to do as he puts together a plan for this week’s game. Coen said on Thursday that he needs to balance keeping things simple for players who are going to be pushed into new roles with the need to show the Falcons different things than they saw the last time around.

“Yeah, it brings new challenges, but also new opportunities and guys need to step up,” Coen said, via the team’s website. “We obviously need to get more creative in some different ways. What it looks like exactly, we’re still trying to formulate and figure out so a great opportunity for some guys. It’s hard, anytime you lose your two guys that have obviously produced a lot for you, so that’s a challenge, but it’s a great for some guys to get a new opportunity.”

The winner of Sunday’s game will be in first place in the NFC South and Coen’s ability to handle the changed circumstances will go a long way toward determining the Buccaneers’ chances of staying in the hunt.