Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Friday that wide receiver Mike Evansthe franchise’s all-time leading scorer, will play Sunday against the New York Giants “while he’s fresh and healthy.”

Evans suffered a moderate hamstring strain in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens and missed three games – tied for the longest absence of his career.

“It hurts to see your team struggle in very tough, close games that we could have won,” Evans said. “I wish I could have been there to help them. I’m excited for this week.”

Evans told ESPN before the Bucs’ Week 11 bye that he could have potentially tried to push a comeback in Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers, but instead Evans was rested this week- there and spent the bye week improving his conditioning.

Evans said he has no concerns about his injury re-aggravating, an injury he suffered while already hampered by a hamstring injury in that same leg but in a different location than muscle.

“No, this week definitely boosted my confidence, and last week I had to go through all the conditioning,” Evans said. “I feel really good. Like I said, I feel better than I did before the Ravens game. I was a little hobbled before that game. I probably should have stayed out, but I’m still trying to getting through it. This time off has really helped me, so I’m confident.”

Bowles, however, left the door open to the possibility of removing him if necessary, given that the Bucs were without their No. 1, 2 and 3 receivers in Evans, Chris Godwin and rookie Jalen McMillan.

The Bucs are 0-4 in the last four games and will likely have to follow a similar path to last season, where they won five of their last six games to make the playoffs.

“If he needs to be in there, he will be in there,” Bowles said, “but we’ll get him out when we need to.”

Evans said he was not concerned about the field conditions at MetLife Stadium despite the history of non-contact injuries on the field.

“I like it. I like it,” Evans said. “I prefer turf to turf, but whatever the field is, we have to play on it.”

Before the start of the season, Evans expressed his desire to tie Jerry Rice’s NFL record of 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He is currently second all-time and would need to average 95 receiving yards per game to achieve that feat. Evans already holds the record for most 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin his career at age 10.

“It’s there. Obviously it’s going to be difficult,” Evans said. “It’s something that… obviously, I think about a lot of other people. I just think about winning – playing winning ball. Things are going to happen. I’m trying to play and help the team to win.”