Mike Evans says he's grown past feud after ejection, suspensions, and restaurant ban

Mike Evans says he’s learned his lesson from starting fights with Marshon Lattimore. Past feuds with the New Orleans Saints cornerback have cost the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver a lot — more than $100,000 in fines, an ejection, two different single-game suspensions, and a lifetime ban from a New Orleans barbecue restaurant.

Still, it remains a spirited rivalry, and Evans said he’s taking the high road. That doesn’t mean he isn’t looking forward to scrapping with Lattimore as long as their teams remain division opponents.

“Long as, you know, it’s within the play,” Evans told the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud. “I’ve done a bad job in the past of making it go over the play when I shouldn’t have. But I’m more mature now and our team is focused on playing winning ball, and you can’t play winning ball when you get kicked out and things like that.”

Evans added that while you want to bring fire and energy and passion into the game, you can’t act irrationally because of it and hurt your team. That’s a balance he’s struggled to maintain in the past, and it doesn’t help that Lattimore consistently shuts him down. Evans has had a nice career. He’s averaged 4.9 catches and 75.2 yards per game over the years. But in a dozen previous games with Lattimore he’s had 5 or more receptions just once while beating that yardage average only twice.

“But I definitely want to have that fire and be physical and a little chirping never hurts. But you definitely have got to be smart,” Evans added.

There’s a lot to be said for letting your hands doing the talking, but Evans would be better served catching passes than throwing punches.