Back in 2022, the Rams claimed Baker Mayfield on waivers when he was released by the Panthers in early December.
Just two days later, Mayfield didn’t start a Thursday night game against the Raiders. But after John Wolford played the first three offensive snaps, it was Mayfield the rest of the way as he improbably led a 98-yard drive to complete a comeback and beat Las Vegas 17-16.
Mayfield ended up starting the last four games of the season for the Rams before signing with the Bucs in free agency.
This week, Mayfield will face the Rams for the first time since he played for the club when Tampa Bay plays Los Angeles on Sunday night.
In his Monday news conference, L.A. head coach Sean McVay noted that even with the short time and unique circumstances, Mayfield was a fun guy to be around.
“He’s got a lot of resilience. He’s got a lot of natural leadership traits,” McVay said, via transcript from the team. “I just remember a guy that had a pretty impressive mental stamina over a small period of time to absorb a lot of information. It’s one thing to absorb it, it’s a totally different thing to be able to bring it to life when the enemy has a say. It was impressive. I think when you watch what he’s done and who he is, I think it’s probably more on par for what we expect of Baker than the outlier when you look at the totality of everything he’s done.
“I thought he brought a spark. He just has a great charisma and presence,” McVay added. “It was obviously cool to be able to get that result after what had been a challenging season. That’s who he is. It’s the same things that make Matthew [Stafford] great, too. That’s what Matthew does for our team. I think when you have certain guys that are innately thrust into leadership positions, whether that be the quarterback or the green dot on defense and those guys have the things you’re looking for, they naturally elevate the spaces that they’re in and the people that they’re around. That’s what guys like Matthew and Baker do.”
Mayfield completed 64 percent of his passes for 850 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions in his five games with Los Angeles in 2022.
In 10 games this season, Mayfield has completed 64 percent of his throws for 2,365 yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions.
