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While not playing the prettiest football, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are entering the playoffs after winning the NFC South. It’s a tremendous achievement for the Heisman Trophy winner, considering that three NFL teams let him go before he reached this stage.
However, injuries might derail his chance of playing in his first postseason game since the 2020 season when he was still with the Cleveland Browns. Is he in danger of missing the Buccaneers’ Wild Card Round game against the Philadelphia Eagles?
Baker Mayfield injury update
The latest Buccaneers injury report for the Wild Card Round indicates that Baker Mayfield is dealing with ankle and rib injuries. He did not participate during the team’s Thursday practice session.
Update: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have listed Baker Mayfield as questionable for wildcard round showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.
While the Bucs pulled off a victory against the Carolina Panthers in Week 18, Mayfield was visibly limping during the game. There will be a massive void at quarterback if Mayfield ends up skipping their playoff match against Philadelphia.
It has been a resurgent season for the former first-overall selection, tallying 364 completions for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 17 games. He also added 163 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
The play or incident that led to Mayfield’s injuries remains uncertain. However, he could have been shaken by one of the three sacks or six hits his former team registered in that game.
Likewise, the toll of hits he got throughout the season might have aggravated those injuries. Baker Mayfield absorbed 40 sacks, the sixth-most throughout the regular season. That count doesn’t include the hits he received before releasing the ball.
Despite those hits, he played in every regular season game and finished ninth in passing yards. That’s a remarkable improvement, considering he played in only 12 combined games for the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams last season.
More importantly, Mayfield finished with a career-high 64.3 completion percentage in his first season with the Buccaneers. Those achievements should give him some confidence against a team in contention for the NFC’s top seed at some point.
When will Baker Mayfield return?
The Buccaneers haven’t officially declared Baker Mayfield out of their upcoming Wild Card Round game at home. But given what’s at stake against the Eagles, the former Oklahoma standout will play even if he is not 100 percent.
He wouldn’t miss it for the world unless medical experts deemed him unable to participate. After all, he hasn’t sat out all season long despite the physical beating he took. Mayfield will keep fighting alongside his squad because a victory brings them closer to a potential Super Bowl LVIII stint.
