The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost back-to-back games and three of their last four, and throughout the last several weeks, quarterback Baker Mayfield has not looked quite right.
Mayfield went just 16-for-28 with 173 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a the Buccaneers’ 44-32 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. He did carry the ball five times for 39 yards and a score, which oddly represented the first time Mayfield ran with the football since Oct. 12.
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Earlier in the season, Mayfield was an MVP candidate, but that talk has simmered in recent weeks, and his sudden dip in production has Bill Simmons of The Ringer wondering if he is hiding an injury.
"I would believe, if you gave me all the QBs and said one of these guys is hiding an injury, Mayfield would be my pick," Simmons said during his podcast. "It's like, ‘Oh, he has a torn labrum' or like some sort of really bad injury we don't know about. Because it also seems like he doesn't want to run with the same zest. So it's also like maybe he has like a hairline fracture of his left collarbone or something like that."
On the season overall, Mayfield has thrown for 2,365 yards, 17 touchdowns and three picks while completing 63.5 percent of his passes and posting a 97 passer rating, so his numbers are still good. But he was on a ridiculously effective pace earlier in the season when Tampa Bay had gotten off to a 5-1 start.
Mayfield joined the Bucs on a one-year deal in 2023 and revitalized his career, totaling 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance. That led to the former No. 1 overall pick signing a three-year extension with the Buccaneers.
Then, last season, he finished with 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 picks for his second straight trip to the Pro Bowl.
Mayfield appeared to be on track to have the best year of his career throughout the first half of 2025, but things have certainly taken an odd turn over the last few games, and based on Mayfield’s declining numbers, it’s fair to wonder if the 30-year-old is potentially nursing an undisclosed injury.
Tampa Bay is 6-4 and will face the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.
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