Bruce Arians didn’t mince words when talking about Baker Mayfield’s latest injury.
After Mayfield went down with a dislocated thumb in the fourth quarter of the Buccaneers’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the former Tampa Bay head coach used his appearance Monday on the “Up & Adams Show” with Kay Adams to deliver a blunt message to the quarterback.
“He's got to quit doing this,” Arians said as a replay showed Mayfield scrambling around in the pocket with the ball just before he suffered the injury. “Just throw the damn ball away!”
Mayfield was injured while releasing a pass in the fourth quarter, when a Vikings defender leaped to try to block the throw. His hand and thumb hit the defender’s outstretched arm, and he was later heard screaming on the ground before leaving the field. Rookie backup Jalon Daniels finished the game.
The injury was another blow in a rough start for Tampa Bay, which dropped its third straight game to open the 2026 season. On Monday, head coach Todd Bowles said Mayfield is expected to miss a “minimum” of three weeks while he recovers, leaving the undrafted rookie Daniels in line to start in his place.
Arians said Mayfield’s style has long carried that kind of risk.
“And that's not in his nature, I know, but this is always how he gets hurt,” Arians told Adams. “You know, I haven't had that conversation with him personally, but 'We need you on the field.'”
He also recalled an early conversation with Mayfield, saying he once told him that if he kept running the way he does, “we're gonna need to put bigger shoulder pads on your [expletive].”
There is at least some encouraging news for Mayfield. ESPN reported that an MRI showed no additional damage to the thumb after Sunday’s injury, and there is optimism he could return in three weeks.
Before the injury, Mayfield had already run 11 times for 65 yards and a touchdown this season. Over the previous two seasons, he totaled more than 700 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
Even with Mayfield available, Tampa Bay’s offense has struggled badly in its 0-3 start. Now the focus shifts to Daniels, who will get his shot while the Buccaneers wait to see whether he can help deliver their first win of the year.
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Baker Mayfield finished with a 50% completion rate, one touchdown and one interception, then added a right hand injury late in the game to an already frustrating night. There were also rough stretches for players such as cornerback Jacob Parrish and right tackle Luke Goedeke, leaving the Bucs with an uncomfortable reminder that the issues exposed Sunday go well beyond a single bad sequence or a single phase of the game. [Read more 🡒]
Baker Mayfield Injury Just Raised The Stakes For A Reeling Bucs Team
Tampa Bays rough Week 3 got even messier late in the loss to Minnesota, when Baker Mayfield dislocated his thumb near the end of the game. The Buccaneers were already dealing with the sting of another defeat, and the injury to their starting quarterback quickly became the biggest concern coming out of the night.
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Bucs Loss Exposed Problems Fans Wont Stop Arguing About
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Todd Bowles now has a familiar debate on his hands, because the scrutiny is not just about one bad afternoon but about how the Bucs handled key moments through the first three quarters. Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving and a few others had their moments, but the bigger issue is whether the teams decisions and execution can keep matching up against good opponents when the game starts tightening. [Read more 🡒]