The Pro Bowl quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield, led the squad to playoff victory and division title in the last campaign, which was touted as a successful one after the seven-time Super Bowl champion, legendary quarterback Tom Brady, left in 2022.
The quarterback has also signed a three-year, $100 million contract with the organization as well. The position coach of Mayfield, Thad Lewis, shared in a press conference that the quarterback’s outlook and attitude have not undergone any change.
He mentioned, “It’s different because we know who the quarterback is, that’s first. Secondly, he has a contract so the guys know it’s his team, he knows it’s his team. He’s confident and comfortable because he’s been in this scheme before, before he came here, and it has some similarities. So, he’s not thinking.”
He further continued, “I think the chip on his shoulder can not completely fall off, but he can be at ease a little bit. And I think that’ll never go away because of how was brought up and I think that’s his motivating factor. But, at the same time, he’s confident, comfortable. You can tell he’s getting guys in order. They’re communicating. He’s demanding it from the guys and himself so you can kind of see it’s not a learning curve right now. It’s more, let’s grow as a team and as a unit.”
The position coach also noted that the quarterback is confident given his approach and feels at ease as well. The assessment of Mayfield while growing with the unit is also observed by Lewis. He further expressed, “I think anybody with a chip or not, you’re playing the quarterback position, you have to go out there and let it rip. I think right now, he can see where things can go, what guys can do best, what he can demand out of certain guys, what he can demand out of himself. He can push the envelope in that aspect because he knows what’s going on. I think it gives us an added confidence that he can just go in and play freely. Last year, his message was that we allowed him to be himself. He knows that we’re going to allow him to be himself as long as it’s within the grand scheme of the offense, with him being himself, we can be a great unit, for sure.”
The position coach, in his remarks, considers the positive trajectory the squad achieved when Mayfield was allowed to pursue his interconnected plans with the unit’s developmental offense. Lewis also dispensed that if Mayfield “stays hungry and humble” and spearheads the next season with same passion the offense can “push and get better.”
