Baker Mayfield, the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have nothing to complain about with Baker Mayfield. He signed on for a near-impossible job—taking over for Tom Brady—and reacted by having one of the best years of his career.
However, over the last two weeks, it has been evident that Mayfield is not in good health.
His numbers reflect this. The Bucs lost to the Saints in Week 17, and the defense led them to a 9-0 victory over the Panthers in Week 18.
And former coach Mike Martz, who guided the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2001, has legitimate concerns about Mayfield. "He's regressed a little bit," Martz noted on the 33rd Team website. "And I'm sure it's due to the injuries. "He is hurting."
Martz has a caution for the Buccaneers: Get Mayfield back on track, and quickly. They did a lot of good things with him," Martz explained.
"I know he's been banged up; he was harmed a little bit. However, he hasn't done very well in the last two weeks. When I saw him today, I was bothered because he didn't appear like he did three or four weeks prior.
He's quite slow. He's making decisions while dropping back, which you can't do as a quarterback. You cannot do that. It shocked me a little."
Injury is undoubtedly a factor in this. Mayfield performed admirably in Weeks 15 and 16, passing for 664 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions and a 141.2 passer rating.
Buccaneers anticipate losing a star player worth $82.5 million to the Bears.