The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been rattled by injuries in recent weeks, with the offense hit particularly hard by absences. Although Chris Godwin came back last week against the Los Angeles Rams, the Bucs were still missing pieces on the offensive line, star running back Bucky Irving, and legendary wide receiver Mike Evans in what amounted to a 34-7 whallopping at the hands of Matthew Stafford and the current kings of the NFC West.
To make matters worse, Buccaneers star quarterback Baker Mayfield left the loss early with a left shoulder injury. So while Irving was always targeted for a Week 13 return against a much easier NFC West opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, Mayfield's status was immediately called into question as Bucs fans cringed while watching Teddy Bridgewater toss some truly putrid ducks out there.
The good news is that while Mayfield was just recently injured, his non throwing shoulder was only actually sprained. Therefore, most NFL insiders like Jeremy Fowler of ESPN are reporting that Baker Mayfield is expected to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 of the 2025 season. Fowler also added that Mayfield and the Bucs will plan to have their franchise quarterback in some sort of protection around his shoulder.
Baker Mayfield is the hot topic
Although some Bucs fans are likely still worried about the state of their former MVP candidate in the final weeks of the season and worry about an aggravation before the big NFC South games and then the playoffs thereafter, it does seem like Mayfield isn't injured badly enough to be a big worry. You would think that if there were even a shred of doubt, the Bucs would shut Mayfield down for a game and roll with Teddy Bridgewater, who is one of the most experienced backup signal callers in this league.
Fantasy football owners can pencil in Mayfield as the main man for the Bucs under center on Sunday, which carries positive ramifications for Emeka Egbuka, especially since Bridgewater isn't any sort of a down field threat, particularly now that he is 33 years of age under center. As for Mayfield, it is hard to expect much, and with Bucky Irving coming back from injury to form a trio with Sean Tucker and Rachaad White, the Bucs should, if they are smart, lean heavily on the running game against Zona. That is the ticket to taking pressure off the Bake.