The Buccaneers have reached their early bye 3-1 with quarterback Baker Mayfield playing well in the team’s first four games.
Mayfield currently ranks No. 8 with a passer rating of 101.5, having completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 882 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. His completion rate and passer rating would be career-highs.
Mayfield has taken some shots — including during Sunday’s victory over the Saints — but he’s displayed the needed durability to compete.
“Baker’s tough. I say it up here all the time,” head coach Todd Bowles said during his Monday press conference. “You don’t want him taking too many of those, but he’s tough, he’s gritty, [and] he’s a very smart football player. He’s a competitor, he’s been like that his whole life, it hasn’t changed.
“He has a lot to prove, he’s having fun out there, he understands the offense, he’s using every piece of [weaponry] that we give him, and he’s having a good time.”
After a 2021 season marred by injury and a tumultuous 2022 season with the Panthers and Rams, Mayfield has settled in with the Bucs. Tampa Bay will have an intriguing matchup with the Lions in Week 6 coming out of the bye.