The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23-13 on Sunday afternoon, and in the process, quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a rib injury after taking a hard hit during a two-point conversion attempt.
After the game, Mayfield provided an update on his health.
“Ribs don’t feel too great right now,” Mayfield told reporters after the game, via the Buccaneers’ official YouTube account. “X-rays as of right now are negative, so that’s good but do some more exams to see what’s really bugging me but don’t have anything right now besides just sore.”
Mayfield went 22-for-33 with 309 yards, a couple of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions in the defeat.
“It was one of those late scramble plays that, you know, last second throwing the ball to Chris [Godwin] obviously, and, yeah they’re going to take hits,” Mayfield said of the hit. “They’re a physical team. They played that way today.”
Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times also posted a video of Mayfield gingerly walking to the locker room in the wake of the loss.
Tampa Bay had a chance to clinch the NFC South division title with a win over the Saints, but instead, the club put forth a rather listless effort, falling behind 20-0 before finally scoring a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. However, by then, it was too late.
The good news for the Bucs is that in spite of now owning the same record as New Orleans at 8-8, they are still in first place by way of the tiebreaker and, therefore, control their own destiny. If they are able to beat the Carolina Panthers next Sunday, they will take home the NFC South crown regardless of what the Saints do against the Atlanta Falcons.
Mayfield has had a spectacular season overall, having thrown for 3,907 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 64.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 95.9.
This comes a year after Mayfield’s career appeared to be on life support, as he split the 2022 campaign between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams and totaled 10 touchdowns and eight picks.
Baker Mayfield will be a free agent this offseason, so it will be interesting to see how the market takes shape for the 28-year-old.
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