Baker Mayfield’s second-half slide in 2025 has sparked plenty of debate, but the quarterback himself just added a big piece to the puzzle.
On the new season of Quarterback on Netflix, which debuts July 14, Mayfield lays out the injuries he battled through across the year. And it wasn’t a short list.
According to WTSP’s Evan Closky, Mayfield said he suffered a sprained PCL and MCL, along with a bone bruise, in Tampa Bay’s Week 2 game against the Houston Texans. He played the rest of the season with the knee injuries, and the bone bruise was re-aggravated in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions.
The hits kept coming. The week after Houston, against the New York Jets, Mayfield dealt with a tendon injury in his bicep. Closky reported that the bruising was severe enough that Mayfield wore a sleeve over his arm to hide it.
Then came another setback in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams: an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder. Mayfield missed the second half of that game, but he kept playing after that.
That injury rundown helps explain why his season looked so different from one half to the next. Mayfield opened 2025 playing like an MVP candidate, helping the Buccaneers jump to a 6-2 start while posting an EPA/play of 0.055. Over the final nine games, though, that number fell to -0.091, his deep-ball accuracy dropped to 20.8%, and he threw nine interceptions after tossing only two in the first eight weeks.
Josh Grizzard’s playcalling and Mayfield’s own tendencies have both been blamed for the downturn, but injuries have been the loudest explanation from plenty of Bucs fans and observers. Mayfield had shown up on the injury report repeatedly all season, even though he missed only half a game.
The Bucs at least took precautions this offseason, bringing in Jake Browning as a more reliable backup option. That move came after Teddy Bridgewater didn’t look great against the Rams when Mayfield exited last year.
For now, Mayfield says he’s healthy. He’s also heading into the final year of his current contract and wants a bigger deal, with a deadline to get it done by training camp, which begins July 28.
In Other News...
Bills Just Took Another Swing At Solving Their Receiver Problem
The Bills added another name to the receiver mix by claiming Quentin Skinner off waivers after the Jets let him go, a low-risk move that fits the kind of springtime roster churn Buffalo has been leaning into while trying to find more answers at the position. Skinner brings an intriguing frame at 6-foot-5 and a college rsum that suggests there may be more there than his early NFL footprint has shown.
He barely got on the field in New York, appearing in one game this season, but Buffalo will get a longer look during offseason activities and see whether his traits can translate into something more useful. At Kansas, Skinner put together a productive career and flashed big-play ability, including a standout 2024 season that led the Big 12 in yards per catch, which is the sort of marker that can keep a receiver on a teams radar even after a quiet start in the league. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Fans Should Keep A Close Eye On Mecole Hardman Jr
Mecole Hardman Jr. gave the Bills a late-season reminder of why his speed still matters after joining the practice squad in November 2025 and working his way onto the active roster before the year was over. He was around for Buffalos final stretch, then stayed in the picture by signing a one-year reserve/futures contract in January 2026, which keeps him in the mix as the team moves through the offseason.
For Buffalo, the interest is obvious because the receiver room is still sorting itself out toward the back end, and Hardmans path to a spot is tied to how the roster settles over the next few months. He is healthy entering the 2026 offseason and already has the kind of recent game experience that can make a player hard to ignore when the Bills start making decisions on the 53-man roster. [Read more 🡒]
Deone Walker Could Change Everything For The Bills Defense In 2026
The Bills have reasons to believe their defense can take a step forward in 2026, starting with a new coordinator in Jim Leonhard and the expected return of Ed Oliver in the middle. One of the biggest wild cards is Deone Walker, the fourth-round pick from 2025 who was thrown right into the fire as a rookie and ended up starting 16 games, giving Buffalo a young interior piece with a chance to grow fast.
Walkers next jump could matter just as much as Olivers return. He has spent the offseason focused on conditioning so he can stay on the field longer and be more effective as a pass rusher, and the Bills are counting on that development to help turn a promising line into a disruptive one. If he makes the kind of leap Buffalo is hoping for, the front could look a lot different by the time 2026 rolls around. [Read more 🡒]