“You Would Have Had To Cut My Leg Off”
February 7th, 2024
Warrior.
Bad ankle, painful ribs injury … they weren’t going to lead Baker Mayfield to sit down in favor of Kyle Trask.
Mayfield talked today on the set of Fantasy Football Happy Hour at Media Row in Las Vegas and was asked about his Week 18 struggles through those injuries.
The Bucs beat the Panthers 9-0 to lock down the NFC South crown.
“It was horrible,” Mayfield said of his performance against Carolina.
But Mayfield explained that there was no way he was sitting out.
“You would have had to cut my leg off to miss the last game of the year to win the division in Carolina after everything that I had gone through there,” Mayfield said. “So just, you tell yourself you’re not feeling pain enough and you trick yourself and somehow you find a way.”
Well, as Mayfield admitted today, Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr. saved that day with his goal-line forced fumble.
In retrospect, head coach Todd Bowles probably should have gone with healthy Trask versus Mayfield. But the Bowles gamble paid off and Mayfield was healthy through the playoffs.
February 7th, 2024 at 4:23 pm
Not playing a snap all year and throwing Trask in against that defense would be like chumming for sharks, Trask could have potentially thrown his career away.
February 7th, 2024 at 4:24 pm
Somehow, I believe him……. I think he is our guy…..don’t know he’s the guy….but certainly hope he is.
Mayfield has the skills and the fire to be a QB good enough to win a championship.
February 7th, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Baker in a wheelchair with only his left arm functional would give the Bucs a better chance to win than deer in the headlights Trashk.
February 7th, 2024 at 4:53 pm
Dave pear
Glad we have you and hopefully your paid largely for your scouting abilities 😂😂
Love how you come to conclusions of someone who has gotten 9 passes for his body of work. Just ignorant. And not part of the Trask cult just not making judgments until the kid plays
February 7th, 2024 at 4:54 pm
Tough SOB.
February 7th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
Lucky to have him have fallen into our lap after the Brady era.
February 7th, 2024 at 5:05 pm
I’m reminded of Jeff Garcia, perhaps even tougher, similar styles and both have been effective when on the RIGHT team.
February 7th, 2024 at 5:15 pm
True Grit
February 7th, 2024 at 5:50 pm
Bucsmarley – I defer to the professionals who have watched him on the practice field for the last 3 years. And kept him firmly on the bench the whole time. You know better I realize. Because you are a Trask lover!
I also defer to my own eyes watching him at UF, my school – I’m a Gator follower since I went there for five years, beginning same year as the Bucs inaugural.
Trask sucks. His college stats are a false flag. At UF, was throwing to Pitts, Toney, Pierce out of the backfield, Van Jefferson ….NFL players, against mostly waitresses and bartenders. Against Georgia in the second half, he threw three passes that would have been pick sixes if the bulldog defenders were not claw handed.
The dude is a first read or else QB. I saw it. Obviously Arians saw it. Obviously Canales saw it. Even Bowles sees it. Follow your boy elsewhere.
But you’ll enjoy watching him hold the clipboard in the new merges XFL/USFL as a backup.
February 7th, 2024 at 6:37 pm
The conspiracy is real
February 7th, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Trask was never going in. If you paid any attention to warmups before games it was Mayfield and Wolford throwing to receivers while Trask was holding a clipboard wearing a baseball cap.
February 7th, 2024 at 6:48 pm
It’s not grit, it’s knowing his job and money is on the line. He doesn’t want Trask going into games just in case he looks good.
That’s not just Baker, that’s every vet that isn’t an established star, and frankly it’s a lot of established stars as well. This is true in all aspects of life.
February 7th, 2024 at 7:02 pm
LOL, the coaches play to win, especially that game. Todd did the best he could and it paid off. “One Read Trask” would’ve likely thrown a pick 6 and a few other INTs against a very stout and underrated prideful Panthers defense. Todd has seen Trashk the whole time he’s been a Buc. Do people really believe that some bizarre anti-Trask conspiracy is why Bowles chose Baker to,play in that game? Really?
OK conspiracy lovers. ‘Splain the conspiracy.
February 7th, 2024 at 7:25 pm
The Panthers defense is over hyped in here. Yeah the yards per game were impressive for the Panthers but they also gave up the 4th most points per game in the NFL. Any QB in the NFL could have won that game with the defense pitching a shut out. Bakers grit and toughness is admirable but it almost cost the Bucs season. Pride is a dual edge sword. It took AW Jr putting on the superman cape to win that game. The amount of hate Trask gets for a player that hasn’t even played meaningful snaps yet is astounding. Even if he’s just a back up level player he could have won that game
February 7th, 2024 at 8:10 pm
If Trask would’ve played the last two games of the season we would’ve gone 10-7 and Mayfield wouldn’t have seen the field in the playoffs. He saw what Trask was doing in practice. He was scared for his next contract. 🤣
February 7th, 2024 at 8:37 pm
Mayfield has Moxey. He’s old school tough.
We had a great Playoff run, thanks to Bakers toughness that day.
But that does bring up a problem. The Bucs have to sign a competent Backup.
When your backup is so bad, that you have to play your starter when hes crippled,
Then you need a better backup.
Coach Bowles knew that Trask gave us NO CHANCE to win, with his weak substandard Arm.
We need to bite the Bullet, admit Trask is a bust and cut him, then
promote our 3rd string QB- who has talent.
Then sign a 3rd QB this summer.
February 7th, 2024 at 9:08 pm
Dom Says
The amount of hate Trask gets for a player that hasn’t even played meaningful snaps yet is astounding. Even if he’s just a back up level player he could have won that game
I just don’t like how he looks holding the clipboard over on the sideline. Reason enough not to believe he could win a game.
February 7th, 2024 at 10:35 pm
@bucsmarley
there’s a reason they didn’t run with trask after brady retired and brought baker in instead. i dont know what it is with all of the people on here who think that the owner, multiple coaches, front office, etc. are just willfully sitting this amazing quarterback on the bench for 3 years because.. reasons. it’s not a conspiracy, he’s just not that good. they see him in practice and every offseason.
as for the guy who keeps misquoting the joes about training camp-they have said multiple times that the original statement was that on ONE day of training camp, early on, trask might have “outplayed” baker a bit. at the end of training camp, and during the preseason, (when it counted) baker ran away with it and easily won the starting job.
February 7th, 2024 at 11:13 pm
What’s the conspiracy against Trask and for what purpose? I’m waiting.
February 7th, 2024 at 11:16 pm
Who hates him?
February 8th, 2024 at 1:37 am
Come on Joe” you certainly know because you read the comments that there are so many comments about how if Trask plays he will end up throwing a bunch of pick six’s and that he sucks so bad he shouldn’t be in the NFL and he’s gaud awful.
February 8th, 2024 at 2:59 am
No one hates Trask – he’s simply not a good professional football player.
No, “you” haven’t seen him. There’s a very good reason for that. Coaches, staff, teammates have all seen him for three plus years, every day. Hence he sits the bench, holds the clipboard.
We get it, the Cult of Trask knows better than the pros who evaluate him and play football with him.
Again – please explain the conspiracy against Trask and what the Bucs hope to gain by running it.
February 8th, 2024 at 8:02 am
@Dave Pear
You clearly did not watch Trask in college because he lit it up, pitts isn’t getting all them stats without Trask. Quit ragging on the dude he’s not trash cause if he was then Tampa wouldn’t have picked him period
February 8th, 2024 at 9:32 am
@Dave Pear
You sound like you do hate trask or just a big georgia or fsu fan who got their tails beat when trask was at Florida lighting it up