The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been one of the NFL’s biggest surprises in the early stages of 2023, getting off to a 3-1 start behind some impressive play by quarterback Baker Mayfield.

However, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles would prefer to see Mayfield make one adjustment.

Stop taking so many hits.

“Baker’s tough. I say it up here all the time,” Bowles said earlier this week, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “You don’t want him taking too many of those, but he’s tough, he’s gritty, [and] he’s a very smart football player. He’s a competitor, he’s been like that his whole life, it hasn’t changed.”

Through the first four games of the season, Mayfield has thrown for 882 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 69.6 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 101.5. This after most had him left for dead after the veteran split time between the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams in a wildly unsuccessful 2022 campaign.

“He has a lot to prove, he’s having fun out there, he understands the offense, he’s using every piece of [weaponry] that we give him, and he’s having a good time,” added Bowles.

Mayfield spent the first four seasons of his career with the Cleveland Browns after being drafted No. 1 overall back in 2018. He posted mixed results, with his best season coming in 2020 when he threw 26 touchdowns end eight picks and led the Browns to an 11-5 record and the franchise’s first playoff appearance since the 2002-03 campaign.

However, things went haywire for Baker Mayfield in 2021, as he dealt with injuries and was very underwhelming on the field, resulting in the Browns trading him to the Panthers.

The 28-year-old now seems to be revitalizing his career in Tampa Bay, and he will try to continue his recent run of success when the Bucs take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

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