Todd Bowles: Jalen McMillan has broken bones in his neck, I don't know when he'll return

Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan had a promising rookie season last year, but he hasn’t played at all this year because of a preseason neck injury that coach Todd Bowles says includes broken bones.

The injury, which had previously been described as a “strain,” sounded more serious based on the way Bowles described it on Ira Kaufman’s podcast .

“He’s still in the brace, but he’s getting better. He’s getting better,” Bowles said, via ESPN. “But necks are not like ankles or arms where you see progress where you can lift on ‘em and work ‘em out when you’re still on the brace and you say, ‘Oh, he looks good today. He’s getting stronger, he is getting faster.’ It’s a neck injury. And those, like you said, it’s a life thing if it doesn’t heal the right way. So they’re saying it’s