Best of the Bucs' young receivers? Possibly Rakim Jarrett.

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Shortly after last Sunday’s loss to Atlanta, Rakim Jarrett came face-to-face with Todd Bowles in the locker room and the Buccaneers head coach congratulated him on a good performance.

The undrafted receiver from Maryland had three catches for 58 yards, including a leaping 19-yarder to set up the Bucs’ ill-fated Hail Mary attempt that he caught out of the back of the end zone on the game’s final play.

“That’s what I told Coach Bowles. ... I said, ‘That’s why I’m here. I’ve got to make plays,’” Jarrett said. “It’s been a blessing so far. Hopefully, we can keep it going (Monday at Kansas City). Hopefully, we can get back on track and get a dub.”

For Jarrett, just playing against Atlanta felt like a victory. He has recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery that forced him to miss most of the preseason, and he returned to the lineup after only one week of practice.

He had been the forgotten man in the receiver room.

“They had to scope it, take the loose cartilage out around the bone so it moves gradually,” Jarrett said. “That was it. No ACL. ... I feel fine. I feel great. I wouldn’t say twitchier, I’m still trying to get my leg back as strong as it was.”

Jarrett, 23, was a productive receiver at Maryland, catching 119 passes for 1,562 yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons. The Eagles called him in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, but by that time, he had already committed to signing with Tampa Bay as a free agent.

As a rookie, Jarrett played in 10 games, catching four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Despite the lack of reps, quarterback Baker Mayfield said he feels very comfortable throwing to Jarrett.

“(He’s an) explosive guy, really explosive,” Mayfield said. “I think it could go back to when I talked to you guys about him during last year’s (organized team activities) — just the contested-catch ability. You saw that in route late in the game. You know, he high points the ball really well naturally, he does that extremely well and when he gets rolling, he can move.”

With Chris Godwin out for the season with a dislocated ankle and Mike Evans not expected back until after the bye week with a hamstring strain, it was hard to know how the Bucs’ young receivers would respond against the Falcons.

Would they be marvelous or marginal?

Their overall performance fell somewhere in between. As expected, rookie Jalen McMillan led all Bucs wideouts with seven targets but only caught four passes for 35 yards. Ryan Miller, an undrafted free agent from Furman, had three catches for 19 yards while Sterling Shepard (three receptions for 18 yards) and Trey Palmer (two for 29 yards) helped move the chains.

Jarrett played only 27% of the offensive snaps with most of the work going to McMillan, Shepard and Palmer.

“He wasn’t on a pitch count, but just learning the entire offense as he just came back,” Bowles said of Jarrett. “... I loved his toughness, I love his competitiveness, he can catch the ball in traffic, nothing is too big for him, he blocked supremely well. He just got better and better. To see him come back after what he went through, I’m proud of him.”

It was a tough position for the Bucs receivers to be put in. Evans and Godwin had accounted for roughly half of the passing game and 11 of Mayfield’s first 18 touchdown passes.

“It’s an opportunity for all the guys who wouldn’t normally get these targets or opportunities that you usually get but you kind of get to show people in the league what you can do,” Jarrett said. “Ultimately, we’re playing for our careers.”

Jarrett doesn’t have the experience or familiarity with Mayfield like Shepard. He doesn’t have the pedigree of a third-round pick such as McMillan. He doesn’t have the straight line speed of Palmer.

So what’s kept him going with so much going against him?

“Just my mental space,” Jarrett said. “Knowing I belong here. I went undrafted, so it can get tough with your mental space and feeling like nobody wanted you. But me keeping my mind right and staying sharp and me believing in myself, I think that’s what’s gotten me this far. Hopefully, it will keep me going.”

It may also lead to many more opportunities.

____