The last thing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need is something bad to happen to starting quarterback Baker Mayfield. Everyone got a pretty big jump scare on Friday when Mayfield didn’t practice and it was later revealed to be an injury that was holding him out of action.
According to NFL Networks’s Tom Pelissero, Baker Mayfield suffered a contusion on his throwing hand that has him day-to-day.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine added to the report, revealing that her sources revealed the injury was suffered after Mayfield hit his hand on a teammate’s helmet during Thursday’s practice.
Luckily, the Buccaneers can take a huge sigh of relief, as Mayfield underwent scans that ruled out a more serious injury.
While Mayfield will return soon, and the team isn’t concerned about the injury being long-term, the scare still serves as a wake up call for Tampa Bay.
Buccaneers need to address quarterback depth behind Baker Mayfield
With Mayfield out, Kyle Trask took the first-team reps during Friday’s practice.
Michael Pratt, who was expected to compete with Trask for the backup job, has been sidelined throughout OTA’s and training camp due to a lower back injury and remains on the PUP list. That leaves Connor Bazelak, an undrafted free agent who played college football for Missouri, Indiana, and Bowling Green, as the only other healthy quarterback outside of Mayfield and Trask.
Bowles has repeatedly said that he is looking to bring in another veteran arm to compete in camp, and Mayfield’s injury only increases the sense of urgency to bring in more depth. The quarterbacks available on the open market aren’t exactly top-shelf options, but they at least have more NFL experience than the Buccaneers current backups.
The top names available on the market are Carson Wentz, C.J. Beathard, and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley.
Wentz is the most proven and experienced option, having appeared in 97 regular season games, including 93 starts. Beathard has appeared in 32 games throughout his career, starting 13 of them. Huntley has appeared in 25 games, including nine starts.
In contrast—Trask, the Buccaneers current backup, has appeared in just seven games in his NFL career, and has never made a start.
The Buccaneers roster is far too talented to not have an insurance option at quarterback.
Sure, the Bucs escaped disaster this time, but if Mayfield were to go down with a more serious injury, the season and the team’s playoffs hopes would all but go right down with him.
This isn’t a knock on Trask, as the front office clearly thinks highly of him. But a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations would be unwise to risk putting the season in the hands of a player who’s yet to start an NFL game if Mayfield were to miss significant time.