The pressure is on not just head coach Todd Bowles, but also Baker Mayfield and several other top Tampa Bay Buccaneers players to perform this season, or risk being the casualties of a rebuild.
It so happens that since winning Super Bowl LV with the great Tom Brady, the franchise has not been able to maintain that level of competitiveness. The hope with Mayfield was that the franchise would remain a playoff contender.
The last time they posted an 8-9 record, they managed to get into the playoffs. This time, though, it was not enough, as the Carolina Panthers won the NFC South with a similar record and better head-to-head tiebreakers.
With just weeks away from the 2026 campaign, the hope is that this Bucs team will overcome the and still find a way to reach the playoffs.
For that, they have to perform well in practice. So far, it . But when they faced off against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mayfield did not have a good summary of how it panned out.
They were playing with their hair on fire, I can say that. We definitely- if this was a full game, I don’t think we would have come out of it on the winning side of it. So just a little eye-opener… But I think from my standpoint, they out-physicaled us, and that’s never what you want to have.
Baker Mayfield told reporters
Mayfield added in his post-practice press conference that irrespective of the competition, he and his teammates are expected to give their best. But in this session, he was not sure if they did that.
Baker Mayfield is not someone to chew his words. He has always said what was on his chest, whatever the consequences. But his head coach does not have that freedom, considering that a losing season might put him on the hot seat.
I thought that we got some good work right out there. Thought we played with more emotion than we did with fundamentals. We’ve got to clean that up. Guys haven’t played in a while, but I thought it was very good work.
Todd Bowles told reporters
It seems the 62-year-old saw some good things out there that may have led him to believe that his team did well enough not to throw up worrying signals. Bowles stressing that his players not competing for a while may have led to some of the problems could also be a sign that the situation may not be as bad as Mayfield makes it out to be.
However, Bowles is a defense-minded coach, while the quarterback was seemingly not happy with the way his offense played. That may have been the reason they almost had contrasting opinions.
One of the reasons the Jacksonville Jaguars had the edge over Baker Mayfield and his offense was because they also field one of the better defenses in the league. At the same time, the Bucs are still getting to grips with new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
However, videos of the Buccaneers’ defenders running circles around the Jags’ offensive unit were trending on social media. When their head coach Liam Coen was speaking with reporters, he, too, pointed out how good his former team’s defense was.
I think they’re fast. Especially in the box, their front seven, I feel faster… They’ve got multiple players at different levels that can make plays.
Liam Coen said
Coen did not leave the Buccaneers on good terms. But in his first joint practice with his old team, it seemed as if everything was forgotten. That could explain why he was so full of praise for his former head coach’s defensive unit.