TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles left the podium after explaining his process for evaluating his quarterbacks and the rest of the players on the current 90-man roster.
"I look at the whole practice, in its entirety," Bowles explained. "Probably around my fifth or sixth time watching the tape, when we start evaluating positions, we take notes and see who can do what, who put what where, and kinda go from there."
Concerning quarterbacks, Bowles said he has a specific timeline, but he's not close to naming a starter.
After his Thursday media session, Bowles passed quarterback Baker Mayfield on his to the podium. Bowles turned and asked, "Baker, are you the starter?" followed by a laugh.
Mayfield gave a not-so-specific answer to his coach's question.
"Work each day. One day at a time right now. First two days under our belt, just getting back in the swing of things," Mayfield said. "I think, offensively, just the recall of what we worked on in the spring has been really, really good, especially from our young guys. Just being able to remember the plays and the terminology. You expect a lot of rust the first few days when you’re talking about that. But for the most part, it’s been pretty clean."
Mayfield's had his share of critics ever since the Cleveland Browns drafted him number one overall in 2018. He said he dropped social media two years ago and isn't worried about anything outside the locker room.
"I’m wired different. I don’t need anyone on the outside to tell me what I can and can’t do. I know what I’m capable of," Mayfield added. "I’ll always have a chip on my shoulder. That’s how I approach every day. It’s good to be around a room and a group that’s had success continue to have that mentality as well."
Quarterback Kyle Trask has his first legitimate chance to start since Tampa Bay drafted him in 2021. The former Florida Gator standout said he's taking a big-picture approach to this year's competition.
"We’re not really competing against each other," Trask said after Thursday's practice. "Obviously, on the outside, there’s-it's own perspective. As cliche as it sounds, you just want to compete with yourself and make sure you’re progressing every single day. The key to good competition is everyone trying to better themselves every single day. That’s been my main focus."
The Bucs practice again on Friday before taking the day off on Saturday.
