Neutered.
Very strange night for the Buccaneers offense.
Starting at left tackle was undrafted rookie Paul Rubelt, the 6-10 hulk from Germany via the University of Central Florida. He’s the fourth-string tackle behind banged up Ben Chukwuma and Justin Skule, and hamstring-healing Tristan Wirfs. Obviously, that meant the Bucs were not going to have Baker Mayfield drop back to pass.
The Bucs handed off and ran aaway from Rubelt on their first three plays.
Mayfield played two series and threw for 10 yards on 2 receptions from 4 attempts. There were no throws downfield. Ted Hurst blowing up the first drive [with a moronic personal foul](https://www.joebucsfan.com/2026/08/tedd-hurst-loses-his-cool/) didn’t help.
Rubelt stayed in the game and was part of the second-team line that got backup Jake Browning running for his life, and beat up. (More on that later.)
Bucky Irving looked good on a few runs, but beyond that, the Bucs’ first-team offense didn’t accomplish much beyond Mayfield learning how new playcaller Zac Robinson sounds on a gameday headset.