Baker Mayfield is getting close. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback spoke to reporters after Thursday’s practice and opened with a joke. “It’s been so long, friends,” he said. “Missed you guys. Most of you.”
Then he got to the injury. “Feel good. Just improving,” he said. “I never really missed time because of injury, so not fun. You always want to be out there with your guys, but just doing the rehab process, doing as much as possible each and every day, trying to recover as quick as possible and take it one day at a time. It’s been feeling slowly better and better, but that’s the frustrating part. It just takes time for an injury like that.”
The 1-5 Buccaneers play at the Carolina Panthers, who lead the NFC South at 3-2, on Sunday, October 25, at 1 p.m. ET (20:00 Cairo).
A plate on the back of the thumb
Mayfield is practicing with a glove. He said the training and equipment staffs “went through all the scenarios” and ended up being able to “stitch a pad on the backside of the thumb to protect it from bending backwards again.” He said they even consulted someone who works with baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays.
“When you’re throwing with a glove, you gotta get used to it,” he said. “Just changing your release points, grip, it’ll stick to the glove, different things like that. So it’s just getting a lot of reps, getting practice with it, getting used to it, and it feels fine.” He said he does not feel restricted: “I don’t feel the difference. It’s just like me wearing a glove.”
Asked if he could grip the ball for a full game, he said he was “very confident.” His bigger worry had been taking snaps under center. “I was more so concerned about the impact of getting the ball from under center,” he said. “It feels fine gripping it, throwing it. It’s just the impact stuff, that was really what my concern was, and it’s great so far.”
He said the dislocation did not damage the ligaments or tendons that would have needed surgery. “There’s gonna be a pretty solid plate on the back of the glove that will prevent that,” he said. “If something like that happens, that’s the nature of the game, unfortunately. But we’ve gotten into a place where it’s strong enough to be able to play.”
“My goal was Pittsburgh”
Mayfield said he tried to come back a week earlier. “My goal was Pittsburgh, to be honest with you. I really, really pushed the limit on it, and I wasn’t able to do it,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was gonna put our team in position to have success. I felt like Jalen was going to be the better option.” He said this week, with two division games coming, was “kind of the last week” he wanted to be ready to roll.
He praised rookie Jalon Daniels, who started the last three games. “I’m really proud of Jalen,” Mayfield said. “Thrown into the fire there, three starts in a row, got a win on the second one in prime time, which was huge. Just the guy he is, the progression he’s had from spring through training camp to now, he’s grown up a ton.” Mayfield said he kept preparing “like I was going to play” and tried to help without “overloading him with information.”
“Take care of business”
Asked about the climb from 1-5, Mayfield said: “Got to take it one game at a time. Our opponent this week is the one leading the division. And so we got to take care of business this week. And that’s all that matters.”
He said the offense has to “own” its record. “It’s consistency. It’s everybody doing their job, their one-eleventh, and that sounds cliché but it’s true,” he said. “It’s been ball security in the first game for me. It’s been making sure we pass off the stunts, pass game execution details, backs hitting the right track. So everybody’s got a hand in it.”
He described an uncomfortable team meeting this week about the passing game. “You can’t be sensitive in that. Everybody’s got a hand in it,” he said. “We build this system based on timing, the rhythm of your feet. Our line’s playing a lot better, and we need to take advantage of it.” On Chris Godwin Jr., he said: “We have to feature him more. He’s a true pro. You get him more and more involved, your offense is going to thrive.”
Zac Robinson: “Ready for both guys”
Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said the Buccaneers are building the game plan for either quarterback. “We’ll kind of be ready for anything,” he said. “JD’s done such a great job and he’s shown he can handle a pretty high volume of a game plan. And so we put it together kind of accordingly, ready for both guys. I know Coach Bowles will make that decision when the time is right.”
Robinson said he first wanted to see Mayfield throwing to receivers moving at full speed after weeks of static throws on the side. “I think it’s getting better every single day,” he said. “It’s progressing, and again, we’ll kind of see where it’s at come Sunday.”
He said Daniels is “one of those guys that, like, the reason why you get into coaching,” after starts against the Packers and Steelers. “The Steelers especially are loaded on that side of the football,” he said. Like Mayfield, Robinson said a hard meeting on Monday was about the passing game. “The pass game has not been good enough by any standard and we got to get a lot better, and it starts with me,” he said.
On the run game, Robinson said the Bucs have “so much faith” in Bucky Irving, who had 19 carries for under two and a half yards a carry against Pittsburgh. “There might not be one that hits, one that hits, but then the next one he breaks a tackle and he can go for 70,” Robinson said. “Unfortunately we did not get that. Didn’t block things up cleanly enough.”
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.