Baker Mayfield may be stuck on the sideline with an injury, but he’s still driving things for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a different way. The veteran quarterback has been there every step of the way for undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels, who suddenly found himself running the show for an 0-3 team with the season already teetering.
Daniels didn’t just inherit a starting job. He was thrown into it fast, and then had to do it again on a short week with only four days separating his first and second career starts.
That’s a brutal ask for any rookie, let alone one who went from undrafted free agent to NFL starter in a matter of weeks. Daniels said Mayfield has been central to helping him handle it all.
“I don’t know what else I can ask from Baker. I think that he’s been heavily in tune with everything trying to continue to help me prepare for every single situation.
Whether it’s as we go through the week of practice or if we’re talking about just on the sideline. Being able to have Baker in my corner, being able to know that I can talk to him about literally anything.
Being able to ask him any question has been great for me…”
Daniels’ first NFL start had its bumps, but he answered with a steadier showing on Thursday Night Football, helping the Buccaneers pick up their first win of the season on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. He completed 17 of 25 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, and he added 23 yards on the ground.
After the game, Daniels again pointed to Mayfield as someone who has made the transition easier.
“The camaraderie that I have with Baker, the communication that I’m able to have with him on a daily basis. In the game, in the practice, in the film room. No matter where we’re at I’m able to have that transparent conversation with Bake, and I can’t thank Baker enough."
Mayfield’s influence wasn’t just behind the scenes, either. During a timeout, cameras caught him speaking with Daniels and coaching him up before sending the rookie back out there.
For Tampa Bay, that kind of presence matters. Even while injured, Mayfield is making himself useful, helping the next man up and keeping the quarterback room steady.
For Daniels, it means he doesn’t have to figure out this opportunity alone. And for the Buccaneers, it reinforces exactly why Mayfield is the unquestioned leader of the locker room.
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The debate only grew once a TikTok clip began circulating around the confrontation, feeding speculation about what happened next. Prescott acknowledged the criticism, while a local report identified the heckler as a car service driver rather than a stadium employee, complicating some of the early assumptions about who was involved. For Tampa Bay, it was the sort of postgame flashpoint that kept the win in the headlines for reasons far beyond the Bucs own performance. [Read more 🡒]
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On social media, Trotter posted photos and a video from the game, including a tackle of Cowboys running back Javonte Williams, and capped it with a pointed nod at Dallas. It was the sort of rookie flex that lands well in the aftermath of a big home crowd win, especially when the opponent is the Cowboys, and it added one more talking point to a night Tampa Bay had already turned firmly in its favor. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Could Face One Painful Deadline Decision If Losses Keep Mounting
At 1-4, the Buccaneers are already staring at a season that can tilt quickly from disappointing to defining, and the pressure only grows if the losses keep stacking up. With a new head coach potentially in the picture next year, Tampa Bay has to start thinking about more than just surviving the week-to-week grind and whether parts of the roster can be turned into draft capital before the deadline.
Among the names worth monitoring is Chris Godwin, whose contract situation and recent usage make him part of the conversation if the front office decides to pivot. The same goes for a few other veterans, including Kenneth Gainwell and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, as the Bucs weigh whether staying competitive now matters more than adding future assets in a season that already feels like it could be headed somewhere uncomfortable. [Read more 🡒]