Baker Mayfield‘s performance declined in his third year as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ quarterback last season. But he was apparently dealing with injuries that weren’t previously reported.
Mayfield reveals that he played with a sprained MCL and PCL in his knee since Week 2 on the new season of Netflix’s “Quarterback” docuseries, via the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud. The third season of “Quarterback” premieres July 14.
If that was indeed the case, it’s presumably news to the NFL. Mayfield’s knee wasn’t mentioned much during the season on the league’s injury report. “Knee” is only listed four times among the 10 weeks when Mayfield’s name was among the Bucs’ injuries — in Weeks 5, 8 10 and 18 — as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio highlights.
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Otherwise, biceps, oblique and shoulder injuries, in addition to illness, were mentioned for Mayfield on the injury report.
Mayfield’s revelation confirms what linebacker Lavonte David said on “The Arena” podcast in April about the quarterback on the show’s April 6 episode.
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“Man, Baker was going through a lot, bro,” David said. “Baker had a lot of injuries that you didn’t expect a quarterback to play through. You know what I’m saying?”
“He had the oblique injury, he had the shoulder injury, he had a lot of things,” he added. You know, ankle injury, knee injury. … He was really trying to push through and really trying to be the player that we needed him to be.”
After throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns on 71.4% completions during the 2025-26 season (and 4,044 yards with 28 TDs the previous year), Mayfield’s production slid to 3,693 yards, 26 TDs and a 63.2% completion rate.
He only threw for 300 yards or more twice in 16 games and compiled fewer than 200 yards seven times.
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That fall in Mayfield’s numbers could certainly be a reason that he and the Buccaneers have not yet agreed on a new contract. He is in the final year of the three-year extension he signed in 2024, set to pay him nearly $40 million.
Tampa Bay reports for training camp on July 24.
Could the Bucs be concerned about Mayfield’s durability after sustaining so many injuries last season? It’s also possible that he wasn’t completely candid about his injuries, which is why they weren’t listed on the report. Before inking him to a new extension, the team might want to know exactly how healthy their quarterback is.
