Mariah Godwin, wife of Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin, disputed Todd Bowles' reasoning for his limited touches this season.
Asked about Godwin only having one touch in Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers, Bowles told reporters part of the reason is because they were "were subbing him out a lot" due to injuries he's been dealing with.
Matt Matera @matty4_matera<a href="">#Bucs</a> WR Chris Godwin had a very important rushing TD yesterday, but it was the only touch he had in the game. <br><br>Todd Bowles answered how surprising it was that he didn't have a catch. <br><br>"We were subbing him out a lot. Obviously he's a little nicked up so he's not totally 100%." <a href="">
On her Instagram stories, Mariah called out Bowles for "blatantly lying" about how much he is playing relative to how often he's getting the ball:
"I'm not sure why we are just blatantly lying here. Regardless of how banged up Chris is, he continues to work his ass off and hasn't missed a game. [C]ontinues to run great routes and 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 and 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."
Bowles' comment about subbing out Godwin was strange because he played 84 percent of the offensive snaps against the Panthers. It was his highest single-game total by percentage since Week 9 against the Houston Texans.
Jon Ledyard @LedyardNFLDraftThey were not subbing him out a lot. Godwin played 52 of 62 snaps, and 31 of 35 passing plays.<br><br>Played 50 of 60 snaps and 36 of 40 pass plays the week before. 57 of 71 overall, 43 of 53 pass plays the week before that. <a href="">
At his midweek press conference on Wednesday, Bowles acknowledged they "have to find ways" to get Godwin the ball. His only touch against the Panthers was a 19-yard run that went for a touchdown in the 21-18 victory.
Godwin has been on the Bucs' injury report multiple times this season with neck, knee and elbow issues, but he's started all 12 games to this point. His 4.4 receptions per game is on pace to be his fewest in a season since 2018 (3.7).
The Buccaneers (5-7) are one game behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. Those two teams will play Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
