TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said quarterback Baker Mayfield plays with the mentality of an offensive lineman. Mayfield laughed and said he understands that quarterbacks have to be aware of avoiding injury, but that's not going to stop him from playing his style of football.
"I love football. It’s the game of football, it’s a physical game, I’ve always loved it," Mayfield said after Wednesday's workout. "I love contact. You can’t shy away from it – I think that’s how you get hurt. I just always want to be a part of the guys. There is something about that, just being involved and showing them that I like to get down and dirty with them, as well."
Bucs first-year offensive coordinator Dave Canales called plays for the first time in his career. While most coordinators sit in the press box, Canales made himself at home on the sideline. He said he was more than happy with the way his group responded after their slow start.
"The biggest comment I’ll make is, this feels like a winning team," Canales said after Thursday's practice. "There was no panic, even early on with the slow start. They were just calm. They were like, 'Okay, let’s fix some stuff. Let’s sit down, keep working.' We just went on to the next drive, and it kind of stayed like that for a while as we figured things out."
"We are all trying to figure each other out. He’s trying to figure out what we like, we’re trying to figure out what he likes, we’re trying to figure out how that jells together," added receiver Chris Godwin. "I think he did a really good job making adjustments and being calm in the moment."
The Bucs admit they left a lot of plays on the field in week one's win at Minnesota, but they're excited to work this week ahead of Sunday's home opener against Chicago.
"I think that’ll be great. I know how loud the Bucs fans get," left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. "They’re excited for the home opener, so that will be a lot of fun, and we’ll definitely use that to our advantage this week."
"When you come home after a road win like that, we should have a lot of ‘Krewe’ love with the fans right there," Mayfield added. "It will be fun. We’ll always take wins, but we need to improve if we want to be potentially where we can imagine.”
Tampa Bay (1-0) and Chicago (0-1) kickoff Sunday at 1 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium.
