Buccaneers undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels is fourth on the depth chart, but he looked in his preseason debut like he might have an NFL future.
Daniels played the second half on Friday night and completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards, and also ran for a touchdown. Third-string quarterback Connor Bazelak started for the Buccaneers on a night when starter Baker Mayfield and backup Jake Browning were both off, but Daniels looked better than Bazelak, and Bucs coach Todd Bowles praised Daniels after the game.
“I thought he was very poised,” Bowles said. “He went in relaxed. We knew he could make off-schedule plays out of the pocket, but he played very confidently in the pocket. He made the right reads. He zipped some throws in there. I thought he played very well.”
Daniels spent six years at Kansas and developed a reputation as a quarterback who made plays with his legs as much as his arm, but Bowles said after the preseason opener that he appreciated Daniels trying to work within the Buccaneers’ offensive system rather than rely on his running.
“He took what they gave him,” Bowles said. “He didn’t try to get out of there too fast and he was calm under pressure, and he let the system work for him as opposed to just trying to make a play. He did some very good things tonight from a poise standpoint.”
Daniels said he’s been hard at work on learning to play in an NFL system, rather than the more improvisational style he had in college.
“We’ve worked on a lot of different things to get me out of certain habits I had in college,” Daniels said. “I have a better understanding of it than when I first got here.”
He put that on display in his preseason debut.
Bucs Clips
The Jets made a late change at quarterback on Friday and rookie Cade Klubnik got the start against the Buccaneers as a result.
Klubnik opened his first NFL appearance with a short pass to tight end Mason Taylor that turned into a 12-yard gain. The pair hooked up again for seven yards and Klubnik then found wideout Garrett Wilson twice for 32 yards. Wilson made an impressive leaping grab in traffic for a 21-yard gain on the first completion.
The Jets settled for a field goal on that drive and Klubnik let running back Braelon Allen do the heavy lifting on the next drive. Allen ran for a 31-yard touchdown on Klubnik’s final play of the night.
Klubnik finished 5-of-7 for 56 yards.
Geno Smith was expected to start the game, but the Jets scratched him just before kickoff with what head coach Aaron Glenn called ankle soreness on the CBS broadcast. Glenn said the team does not believe it is a serious issue.
Defensive tackle Vita Vea remains at odds with the Buccaneers over his contract and thus is not practicing. He wants a trade. The Buccaneers insist they aren’t trading him.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Bills, 49ers and Bears are among the teams who have called the Bucs about Vea.
Vea requested a trade ahead of training camp after spending the offseason seeking a new contract.
Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter, Dallas’ Quinnen Williams and Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons all have signed extensions recently, with Carter now at the top of the defensive tackle market at $38 million annually. Williams ($35.3 million per season) and Simmons ($35.276 million) are close behind.
Vea now ranks 16th with an annual average of $17.75 million.
He is entering the final year of his deal, set to make $17 million in base salary.
The Buccaneers received good news about wide receiver Emeka Egbuka’s injury on Friday.
Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Egbuka underwent more testing on his injured toe and a specialist diagnosed him with a sprained toe. The Bucs are confident Egbuka will play Week 1.
Egbuka limped off the field during the joint practice at the Jets’ facility in New Jersey on Wednesday and did not return.
He had 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns during his rookie season and is expected to have an even bigger role with Mike Evans now in San Francisco.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said this week that the team’s starters would play against the Buccaneers on Friday night, but there’s one significant change to that plan.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that quarterback Geno Smith has been scratched due to foot soreness. Per the report, the Jets are not concerned about the injury and Smith would be playing if this were a regular season contest.
With Smith out of the lineup, fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik will get an extended run in his first NFL game action. The Jets listed Klubnik as the No. 2 quarterback on their initial depth chart and he will now get the start against Tampa.
Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe are the other Jets quarterbacks.
The Buccaneers have scrapped their plan to have Jake Browning start at quarterback against the Jets on Friday night.
Browning injured his back in a joint practice at the Jets’ facility on Wednesday and Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that he will not play in the preseason opener as a result. The Bucs said earlier in the week that Baker Mayfield will not take part in the game.
Connor Bazelak and undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels will be the quarterback for the Bucs on Friday.
Browning signed with Tampa in March and is expected to be the No. 2 quarterback behind Mayfield as long as he’s healthy.
The Buccaneers practiced without cornerback Zyon McCollum during a pair of joint workouts with the Jets this week and it remains unclear when he’ll be back on the field.
Head coach Todd Bowles told JoeBucsFan.com that McCollum is dealing with a groin injury. Bowles said that McCollum is “coming along” without offering a timetable for when the team believes he will be able to play again.
McCollum won’t be playing in Friday night’s preseason game against the Jets and would seem to be questionable at best to play at all in the preseason.
Benjamin Morrison also missed practice time recently with a hamstring issue, so the Bucs have a pair of soft tissue injuries to manage as they move closer to the regular season.
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles didn’t have an update on wide receiver Emeka Egbuka after Wednesday’s practice, but it looks like Egbuka avoided a serious injury.
Egbuka limped off the field during the joint practice at the Jets’ facility in New Jersey and did not return before it came to an end. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that Egbuka suffered a toe injury and that it is considered minor.
That’s good news for the Bucs and Egbuka will have a good chunk of time to rest before the team is back on the practice field. They’ll play the Jets in their preseason opener and most of the team’s starters were expected to sit out that game anyway.
Egbuka had 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns during his rookie season. He could take on an even bigger offensive role with Mike Evans now in San Francisco.
The Buccaneers did not have an immediate update on wide receiver Emeka Egbuka’s status after Wednesday’s joint practice with the Jets wrapped up.
Egbuka limped off the field during the session with the help of trainers. Reporters at the practice said that Egbuka got rolled up on in the end zone during one of the drills.
After practice, head coach Todd Bowles said at his press conference that he was on another field when Egbuka was injured and had nothing to share about his condition.
The Jets and Bucs play on Friday, but the Bucs are not expected to play most of their starters in that game. They certainly won’t play any who have injury issues, so it might be safe to scratch Egbuka off the list of those to watch already.
With no new contract coming, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield needs to be ready to get the most out of the bet he’d making on himself.
And he feels like he’s ready to do that physically.
“I think I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Mayfield said on the 4th and South podcast, via JoeBucsFan.com. “It took a while to feel healthy enough to actually train and get to that point. But I feel great. You know, you find your routine in the later years of your career and you figure out what works for you schedule-wise, workout-wise, diet-wise — all things you need to adjust and adapt to as the years go on. I feel really good. Yeah, last year I was banged up but, I mean, the whole team was.”
He’ll need to find a way to avoid being banged up. Part of his appeal is that he’ll play through anything. At some point, however, it impacts his performance.
That’s where it could get interesting, if he has multiple injuries through which he’s playing in 2026. At some point, Mayfield at less than 100 percent may not be a better option than Jake Browning at full strength. And the coaching staff (and/or the front office) may be inclined to ask him to take a seat, if they think it’s in the best interests of the team.
Given the contractual posture, that becomes a potentially dicey move. Mayfield is trying to earn his next contract. He may not take kindly to any talk of being removed temporarily.
It all comes down to Mayfield avoiding unnecessary hits that he has a habit of at times embracing. It’s one thing to be healthy when there’s no contact. Starting in Week 1, it will be open season on all NFL quarterbacks. Mayfield’s short-term interests, and his long-term prospects, may hinge on staying as healthy as he can, for as long as he can.
