Baker Mayfield Gets A Thumbs Up On Sore Hand, Return To Practice

August 5th, 2025

“Sharp” this morning.

Joe does not believe in coincidences when it comes to the NFL.

When an action, anything, happens, there is something in the background that caused it.

Let’s look at the Bucs, shall we? On Thursday, Baker Mayfield’s hand was too sore after he banged it in a follow-through hitting a teammate’s shoulder pads. He missed two practices to let his hand heal.

In those two days the Bucs got to watch a lot of backup Kyle Trask running the first team offense, and QB Connor Bazelak working with the second team, practice squad dudes and scrubs who will work for Amazon, Morgan Stanley and UPS next month.

Apparently, the Bucs have seen enough. They are expected to sign high school coach and NFL veteran Teddy Bridgewater.

No, there is no major injury to Mayfield.

“[Mayfield] was sharp,” Bowles said after today’s practice. “Very good on his reads.”

Also speaking today, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht said of Trask, curiously, that he is currently the No. 2 quarterback. Licht did not say Trask is permanently the No. 2.

So after the scare of Mayfield nursing his hand last week, and after watching two active backups take all of the snaps, the Bucs decided to bring in Bridgewater. Coincidence?

22 Responses to “Baker Mayfield Gets A Thumbs Up On Sore Hand, Return To Practice”

  1. Oxycondomns Says:

    the players need a good backup qb in practice with a new offensive coordinator the reps are important

  2. 813bucboi Says:

    not a coincidence at all imo lol…

    teddy is certainly better than pratt and bazelak….

    im sure JL & TB saw they have absolutely nothing behind Trask in the event Baker and Trask go down….

    would licht say b.hall is permanently the #2 CB?…lol…dont think so lol

    GO BUCS!!!!!

  3. Hodad Says:

    They needed another arm in camp before Baker hurt his hand. They still have 3 preseason games to play, and can’t afford to lose Trask. That would leave only Bazelak as the only QB to play all those games. Will he be competing for the backup job yes. Answer me this though Joe, if they love Teddy so much, why didn’t they sign him over Trask on March, when both were on the market? If they thought he was an upgrade, why wait till now to bring him in?

  4. Lightningvinny1 Says:

    We need to be able to win 2 of 4 games if baker goes out ,,,,

  5. LakelandBuc Says:

    Well Kyle Trask will get his opportunity Saturday
    I’m sure Baker isn’t playing against the Titans

  6. 813bucboi Says:

    joe:

    why is it so hard for you to believe that the signing of teddy is for quality depth lol…

    you’ve said yourself:Speaking independently at the NFL Scouting Combine yesterday, head coach Todd Bowles and Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht each said they want to re-sign Trask for his fifth season in pewter and red.

    THEY WANT THE KID TO BE A BUC LOL

    you also said: Joe was focused on the body language when Licht and Bowles talked about Trask. There was no waiver or waffling as their was with chatter about Jamel Dean and Jordan Whitehead.

    THEY’RE CONFIDENT IN TRASK

    bowles and licht has 0 confidence in pratt or conner lol

    GO BUCS!!!!

  7. D-Rome Says:

    They needed another arm in camp before Baker hurt his hand. They still have 3 preseason games to play, and can’t afford to lose Trask. That would leave only Bazelak as the only QB to play all those games.

    This is reasonable.

  8. First Last Says:

    I’m not sure what we got Teddy for but let’s be honest. What happens if we are on a deep run say 10 wins and Baker gets clobbered and cannot play anymore. You have Mike Evans, Godwin, and Lavonte David all hungry for one more ring. This team is stacked, and it may be the last year for a few dudes. At a minimum, you feed the vets to get another 1,000 yards. Just spam throws to Evans/Godwin.. or, you have a veteran who can win some games or take us into the playoffs and give the rookies more experience. Either way, if I’m the Glazer family, I’m not looking to see Baker injured, or not win a home play off game. If we are NFC Champs again, which we will be, that is a lot of money just to get that one game. Basically we are hedging our bets.

  9. Jack Burton Mercer Says:

    Probably has more to do with next year. Sign Bridgewater, get his agent to give you a rec with some future free agent. So, who is Bridgewater’s agent and who are some of his other clients?

  10. infomeplease Says:

    Trask is still an NFL unknown. Bridgewater is a proven average starter/ high quality backup.

  11. Rod Munch Says:

    The Teddy Brigade finally gets their man!

    I still can’t believe there were morons in the comments here that actually wanted the Bucs to sign Bridgewater over Brady. Talk about all-time stupid takes. If you were one of those idiots, and you read this, you know who are you and you should do the honorable thing…

  12. Ben the GA Buc Says:

    If Teddy dresses with us on Week 1, hasn’t he played for every NFCS team at that point?

  13. Davyboy🏴‍☠️ Says:

    Wow. Talk about the pot callin the kettle black Munch, wow!! 😂

  14. Davyboy🏴‍☠️ Says:

    Actually Munch the “all-time stupid takes” is you incessantly saying Baker would regress in 2024 and Baker is a middling quarterback and Baker can’t run and Bakers arm is weak and, and and more ands. That’s the “all-time stupid takes” 🙄 Now we have 700 NFL players choosing middling Baker as the Top 50. Do you have some wise comment about that? Is Baker still not elite? 700 football players say he is elite. You say he’s not. Any changes you want to make on your comments about Baker not being elite? I’m curious 🤔

  15. MikeBuc Says:

    I know a lot of Trask guys are trying to console themselves but lets be real here. The guy that comes in if Baker is hurt is up to Bridgewater and the record at the time of a Baker injury. Whether he is designated at 2 is somewhat irrelevant.

    If its late in the season with playoffs on the line and we are down by a touchdown you got to be day dreaming to think Bowles sees a vet up to snuff with experience on the sidelines and sends in Trask. Even if he does he will be on a very very very short leash and be pulled unless doing great.

    so its up to Bridgewater and how much rust he can scrape off.

  16. MikeBuc Says:

    @Davyboy “Actually Munch the “all-time stupid takes” is you incessantly saying Baker would regress in 2024”

    Actually though I lurk more than post I am pretty sure I have seen worse. I recall him going in with various posters that a running game was of no value in today’s NFL.

  17. Davyboy🏴‍☠️ Says:

    MikeBuc, that’s funny. I’m starting to “kinda” feel sorry for ol’ Munch.
    His world of talking tough on everybody is starting to crumble. All his yappin about this and that is like the saying “his chickens are coming home to roost” and he might not like the results. He just can’t help himself.

  18. KT Says:

    It would be fun if Trask ends up starting a few games this season after all the Trask bashing from the Noles fans (Joe) here.

  19. Davyboy🏴‍☠️ Says:

    Munch, by Baker being chosen as the 50th player out of 700, is equivalent to the top 7%. 7% of 32 starting quarterbacks is the top 2.24. So, 700 NFL level football players think Baker is equivalent to the top 2-3 quarterbacks in the league. Is that elite Rod? Because, as I said, you have constantly maintained he wasn’t?? The top 7% of anything, is elite status. That’s pretty good for a guy that has had to fight for everything football since high school.

  20. Roho67 Says:

    They have seen enough of Trask to know that they need an experienced QB to step in and take over in the event that Baker goes down. TRASK AIN’T THAT DUDE!

  21. Davyboy🏴‍☠️ Says:

    Rod Munch, I figured you wouldn’t have too much to say about the opinions of 700 football players and the fact that their opinions differ from yours by about 99.9%.🤫
    The cream always rises…

  22. Marky mark Says:

    Not so much a reaction to Bakers current injury but it made the reality if QBs getting injured mire pressing. You need good backups.

 

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