Josh Grizzard Doesn’t Believe Baker Mayfield Injuries Have Caused Turnovers
January 1st, 2026
Covering for Baker Mayfield?
The NFL, as we are told daily, is a business. Therefore, Joe can smell corporate-speak when he hears it.
On Tuesday, Baker Mayfield pushed back (just a little) when he was asked if his beat up body is affecting his accuracy. He didn’t deny he’s injured but he wasn’t ready to say the picks are due to his injuries.
Yesterday, Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard pretty much said the same thing when he was asked.
“I wouldn’t necessarily put [Mayfield injuries] on a couple of the interceptions as of late,” Grizzard said. “He plays the game very hard, as we see. … Ultimately, you don’t want to see him take those shots. Being able to get hit in a game like that is not something, of course, we want to see.
“But, at this point in the season, everybody is so banged up.”
Almost sounds like a rehearsed answer. Why does Joe say that? Because that’s damn near verbatim what Mayfield said on Tuesday, that he can’t use an injury as an excuse because everyone is beat up after Christmas.
So Joe turns to Bucs’ Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians. He’s much more of a straight-shooter. On Pat McAfee’s show this week, Arians said he thought Mayfield was injured more than the Bucs are letting on and at the same time, the picks have spiked.
So, Arians was saying without saying he thinks there is a cause and effect there. Seems very probable.
The thing Joe would like to know is, if Mayfield really is that hurt that it’s causing him to throw so many picks (and maybe that is also why Grizzard has transformed his offense into a 13-year old girls’ sleepover pillow fight with short screens and passes behind the line of scrimmage) why is Mayfield on the field?
If Mayfield is so hurt he’s dragging the offense down, Joe thinks it is fair to ask why is he playing.
Love the gung-ho fight in Mayfield, but sometimes being smart trumps grit.
Eh, it’s probably too late to ask. Clearer minds at One Buc Palace should have had Mayfield take a week or two off to heal up so he could have been more effective for division games in December.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:09 am
Ryan Day is available.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:09 am
Baker Mayfield sucks along with defense. Joebucsfab continues to propagate that Mayfield is a franchise qb! These guys are in the click bait business and only a fool cannot see that. The tape does not lie!!
January 1st, 2026 at 12:14 am
I said this yesterday. The final decision of who sits and who plays is on the head coach.
The decision should be based on who gives the team the best chance to win.
If Coach Bowles thinks Baker gives the Bucs the best shot at winning we either have a head coach that isn’t paying attention or we have a serious problem in the quarterback room.
Either way, I hope the Glazers make significant changes Sunday morning.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:21 am
Timon, give it a rest about Baker sucking. Compare his stats over the past three years with any other QB in the league: he’s second in TD’s and third in passing yards! I do, however, agree with JOE that he should have been shut down for a couple weeks to heal a month ago.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:33 am
Jameis would have won 2 of the last 3.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:38 am
HOW many new names are you 9 year olds gonna create?
January 1st, 2026 at 12:51 am
Didn’t you see Bridgewaters noodle of an arm earlier this year, Joe? Mayfield could chuck the ball farther than Teddy even if it was in a cast! Thank Todd for that bust of a signing.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:56 am
It really doesn’t matter if he’s injured or not, it’s too late for that now
It mattered 3-4:weeks ago, but it’s water under the bridge now
It’s time to focus on 2026, it’s a new year
The season will end this weekend or be extended
Either way, there’s a ton of work that need to be done at One Buc Place
I’m sure the Glazers are evaluating everything and everyone
We’ll see what happens
January 1st, 2026 at 1:16 am
That would require coaching, leadership, a GM with h8s finger on the pulse of his team and bright enough to protect his bosses’s investments. GM fail–>HC fail–> OC fail–>putting player in position to fail–> player fails–> fails to earn big payday–> team sees how mismanaged players/team are–> players QUIT on coach/team–> team fails/loses. Licht does not deserve to be overlooked by the turk
January 1st, 2026 at 1:33 am
Gizzard is one and done, we know it, he knows it, Baker knows it. Even if perennial loser Todd Bowles is not fired then the season losses will be blamed on Gizzard and Baker having injuries. Imagine Bowles getting to keep his job, nothing absolutely nothing then to look forward too. The combine, the draft, free agency all of it is meaningless.
January 1st, 2026 at 2:05 am
Baker lead the NFL in interceptions last year during a career year.
What if he’s just a very inconsistent quarterback, and that’s why everyone has given up on him until now. If he loses 5 in a row, with the playoffs on the line in every game, and gets everyone fired, who in the world would ever trust Baker with their jobs? What if he is, simply, not that good of a quarter – a streaky guy who can get on a few hot streaks, but then go on long cold streaks.
Also, how exactly do you hurt your non-throwing shoulder on a non-contact play? So many questions.
January 1st, 2026 at 2:30 am
Baker was in because Bowles decided to ditch Trask for Bridgewater. Which would have been fine if it weren’t for the fact that Teddy can’t throw. That leaves Bazelak who was on the practice squad. I had noticed he dressed last week. This whole thing is just weird. How we ended up here is a puzzle to me. I just don’t get it.
Please fire Bowles. There has been so much weirdness since he took over and frankly I am tired of it. And why exactly is Arians still getting a paycheck? Senior football consultant? Doing what? This organization is weird. It’s not like they owed him money. He retired and then stuck us with Bowles. I can’t even think of all the times in the last few years that something happened that made wonder what kind of madness goes on behind the scenes.
January 1st, 2026 at 2:44 am
Munch,
If your shirtless Tom Brady poster in your bedroom could talk here is what he would say. I Tom Brady had 33 INT’ s in 3 full years with the Bucs versus Baker who in 3 full years with Bucs has had 36 INT’s. Does your left hand get tired holding up your shirtless Brady poster?
January 1st, 2026 at 3:25 am
rod, just STFU idiot! Like Mike said as he was leaving that game…on the D, “3rd and 28” and all of the other stupid crap that you choose to ignore….is Baker a DC? a LB? DT? SS? FS? CB? KICKER? you’re so dm stupid sometimes!!
January 1st, 2026 at 3:35 am
This guy is dumb
January 1st, 2026 at 5:01 am
I think you get what you pay for in this life and that’s what we are seeing on the field
We are saving money with Baker – most “franchise” QB’s make double his salary
We left 10-15 mil in cap with no real backup QB and GLARING holes at OLB and ILB
Then the injuries piled up
Cutting corners to recoup money from the Brady era coupled with mediocre level coaching equals the Todd Bowles era and our annual hover at mediocrity
January 1st, 2026 at 5:23 am
Baker was the perfect person to come in as QB after Brady. Baker has been with many coaches, for sure. He is a journeyman. Not comparing him to Fitz, however there are some similarities. Weeks ago, people were comparing Baker to Brett. Talk was MVP. Unfortunately, no more.
Many of us were rooting for Grizz, and thinking since he was part of our offense he would be good. Looking back, he should not have been moved up. The Bucs should have gotten a strong and noted OC to come in. Everything has remained complicit for too long. There needs to be a fiery and creative plan now.
January 1st, 2026 at 5:57 am
Joe, the title of your nice story ends “believe Baker Mayfield’s injuries have caused interceptions?” Yes Joe, the answer is yes. But only 2 of them. Remember the Rams game? Right before halftime. With a loose left shoulder they tried a 65 yard Hail Mary. He was done for the day after that ignorance. Also the Rams game before that “costly pick” Otten bobbled a first down into a pick 6. Mayfield was hurting that night. Thank goodness he played at all and threw a touchdown pass to keep us from being shut out. At least our defense kept us in the game with a spectacular second half performance that Rams game.
January 1st, 2026 at 5:57 am
Does Josh Grizzard believe his inept playcalling has led to Baker’s turnovers?
This fan thinks the lousy oline, injuries or not, has been the biggest factor in the downward spiral of the offense.
That is on Jason Licht. GM is the rotten egg we are all smelling
January 1st, 2026 at 6:07 am
It’s one thing to be a loser, to be a liar on top of it. Wow, just wow.
January 1st, 2026 at 6:26 am
teddy is WORTHLESS and shouldn’t be a back up.
another licht special
January 1st, 2026 at 7:00 am
Hey Joe, I’m positive if Baker hadn’t have been so banged up Goedecke would no way have been killing drives with penalties or Mike, being a hall of famer and all, wouldn’t allow key third down throws to bounce off his chest to kill important drives. Usually when Mike drops key passes he’s injured for a month or two, right? Tristan even has to sit on the sidelines with Mauch and Bredeson all because Baker is a dud. But I don’t think we can forgive Mayfield for Godwin and McMillan on the sidelines for three quarters of the season. Stinkin Mayfield.
January 1st, 2026 at 7:01 am
Yes maybe the HC could have bench Baker.
January 1st, 2026 at 7:50 am
So Bake gets hurt in 1st qtr and Blooper Bilgewater comes in to finish off the Bucs season and Bowlzo tenure. That would be a fitting ending to this saga.
January 1st, 2026 at 7:59 am
The last I looked, Baker doesn’t play defense
January 1st, 2026 at 8:09 am
Kenton,
Lets be fair Mike has also had to sky on two catches recently from Mayfield I am guessing were 10 feet high . YAc yards are out the window when you are being submarined from behind. A possible nagging injury or too much adrenaline may be contributing to some passes not being delivered in the right location to extend the play.
January 1st, 2026 at 8:09 am
Why call out Mr Munch. he puts out facts about Baker and he gets attacked. Baker is only one problem on this team as many people has pointed out. This article about Baker being so hurt that he is now throwing picks makes little to no logic.one thing is true Baker should have been set down, Hurt or not. Bowles should have have been replaced along with Griss and the terrible special team coach. Whoever hired Bridgewater should be fired 2 weeks ago. I hope the owners are paying attention. Go Bucs Please guys
January 1st, 2026 at 8:17 am
If I was Grizz, I would go back and study the Oklahoma offenses back in Baker’s college days. As I recall there were a lot of ten yard passes near the sideline to move the chains to WR’s which would be right up Mike’s alley, IMO. Simplify and succeed when all else fails
January 1st, 2026 at 8:34 am
Bridgewater is a joke. I’ve watched him in pregame warm ups taking snaps next to Baker. Bake is going full speed like it’s live action firing the ball. Bridge trots around and tosses lollipops to the coaches. Watch him on the sidelines, he’s just hanging around. Whatever happens he needs to be gone.
January 1st, 2026 at 8:44 am
Keeping Bridgewater forced the Bucs to play Baker in every game whether it made sense or not. I would have cut him after the Jaylin injury.
January 1st, 2026 at 8:52 am
Brain. Yeah but Baker lost 6 games in a row because of his turn overs.
January 1st, 2026 at 9:17 am
If I was Grizz , I’d be looking to see if Outback Steak House is hiring.
January 1st, 2026 at 9:26 am
Most INTs in the league since being drafted sitting on an even 100 picks in 119 games. Short term the injuries are a cop out. Long term, it’s habitual. Wild thing is, even with a shortened 2022 he still managed 8 picks to 10 TDs. Sometimes you take players for who they are, and don’t need to nitpick the how and why.
January 1st, 2026 at 9:40 am
Rod Munch Says:
January 1st, 2026 at 2:05 am
“Baker lead the NFL in interceptions last year during a career year.
What if he’s just a very inconsistent quarterback, and that’s why everyone has given up on him until now. If he loses 5 in a row, with the playoffs on the line in every game, and gets everyone fired, who in the world would ever trust Baker with their jobs? What if he is, simply, not that good of a quarter – a streaky guy who can get on a few hot streaks, but then go on long cold streaks.
Also, how exactly do you hurt your non-throwing shoulder on a non-contact play? So many questions.”
Your rhetoric on the non-throwing shoulder injury is nonsense. Go back if you can and watch the game. He went in the blue tent a few plays after he was tackled trying to scramble. Get over it. Who would you like as his replacement? Joe Burrow? They want a kings ransom for him. Multitude of first round picks plus a lot more. Let’s face it. Baker will be back next year like it or not.
January 1st, 2026 at 9:47 am
WBL. In Brady’s first 119 games he threw 87 picks. Peyton Manning threw 96 picks his first 119 games. Heck, Brett Farve threw 336 in his career. Doesn’t matter what year it is, WBL remains a troll.
January 1st, 2026 at 9:52 am
Kenton Smith Says:
January 1st, 2026 at 7:00 am
“Hey Joe, I’m positive if Baker hadn’t have been so banged up Goedecke would no way have been killing drives with penalties or Mike, being a hall of famer and all, wouldn’t allow key third down throws to bounce off his chest to kill important drives. Usually when Mike drops key passes he’s injured for a month or two, right? Tristan even has to sit on the sidelines with Mauch and Bredeson all because Baker is a dud. But I don’t think we can forgive Mayfield for Godwin and McMillan on the sidelines for three quarters of the season. Stinkin Mayfield.”
That’s insane to thing every injury on he team was caused by Mayfield. McMillan was hurt on a Teddy Bridgewater pass. Godwin was hurt on a tackle after a normal catch. He leg got rolled up under a defender. The offensive line Mauch, Bredeson and Wirfs are why Baker has been injured so much. They have been very bad at pass blocking. I think you know who is stinking.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:11 am
In 2023 after Brady retired, the whole sports media world thought for sure that the Bucs would completely fall apart. In most preseason power rankings they were at 28 or lower and a big reason for that was replacing Brady with Mayfield and a lot of turnover on the roster. What saved this team from a total collapse was Baker Mayfield. The media hounds were wrong about him all along. Overall bad coaching except for Liam Cohen and a roster still in transition and still aging at some key spots is what is keeping this team from taking that next step. Bottom line is that most fans here think that this is a great roster as presently constructed and it is not imo. They are correct about the bad coaching though. There have been some nice additions to the roster but there is still work to do especially on the defense. A new coach to oversee the continued rebuild is what is needed. Blowing it all up would be a big mistake.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:16 am
Kenton,
Brett Farve has the most INTs in NFL history.
All 3 also had seasons they either played at or were outright NFL MVPs with a total of 11 between them.
Nobody on this planet or in this galaxy is confusing Mayfield for any of the 3.
I’m only a troll, because you don’t like the things I say, which has got to be a weird way to live life on the daily.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:31 am
Matthew Stafford had 102 interceptions in his first 119 games in the NFL. We can play this game all day WBL. You troll.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:40 am
bob in valrico. Of course man, let’s be fair. That’s something you just don’t see, huh Bob? Receiver’s jumping to catch passes. Well somebody oughta tell the other teams because those dang receivers look like flying pretzels with hands. Sticky fingers. Yikes. Football.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:46 am
Wow backstabbing#2. Real coaches like Mcvey are big Baker fans.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:47 am
For the Jameis lovers; 156 TD to 114 interceptions. Baker Mayfield; 196 TD to 100 interceptions. Both have played for crap teams and crap coaches for the majority of their careers.
January 1st, 2026 at 10:58 am
The losers for Baker Mayfield always bring up HOF quarterbacks and their interceptions. Guess what — throughout the history of pro football the interception rate has been declining.
Based upon interceptions, Johnny Unitas would be the worst QB in the NFL now. 290 passing TDs to 253 interceptions. But guess what — he was a HOFer compared to other QBs in his era.
When comparing Brady or Manning — you compare them to other QB’s and their performances in the NFL those specific years. Guess what — they excel.
For 11 years losers on this site have used Peyton Manning or Brett Farve interceptions to suggest that Jameis Winston or Baker Mayfield are as good or better than those players. Just sad how deeply those losers reach to.
January 1st, 2026 at 11:07 am
Rod Munch when are you going to STFU and stop proving how little football knowledge you actually have? Grizzard is right about 1 thing, injuries aren’t the problem. His playcalling is. If you have watched the Bucs deteriorate all season like I have, at some point you come to realize that the unimaginative play calling has ruined Baker’s passing game, and it has slowly killed our offense as the season progressed. Paired with the fact that we can’t tackle, pressure, or cover anyone on defense and we can’t protect our QB tells us that coaching is the problem not the QB. We have a pathetic 30ish sacks on the entire season, and our trash secondary is in the bottom 3 in the league. We have a delusional coach that is is blaming the problems on our QB when when it is his own inadequacies that have let this team down over and over. What kind of coach blames their QB when his defensive is a freaking joke. When he and Jason Licht completely ignored the needs of this team. Receivers didn’t cost us last season but we drafted receivers and we have had all of them healthy and available for the first time all season in the past 2 games, and baker was barely given a chance to throw to them because of poor play calling and no protection. Because of Todd’s and Jason’s poor decision making, we have made every QB we have played this year especially the rookies, look like Joe Montana. We need coaches who will focus on bettering the positions of need on this team, who can motivate their players, and who can admit their own shortcomings as a coach and make adjustments when needed. We sure as hell don’t have that right now. What we don’t need is a coach who allows his QB to go in front of the podium after every game and take the blame for losses that are not his fault, because Todd the guy responsible, WON’T!!! That disgusts me and is another great reason that Todd should no longer have the privilege of coaching this team. Todd is no longer coaching he is looking for an excuse to keep his job. He certainly never minded taking the credit when we were doing well tho did he?He is not worthy of coaching this team anymore, and neither is Jason Licht. Grizzard was not good. But I would give him a second chance with better fellow coaching around him. Change is necessary.
January 1st, 2026 at 11:19 am
“Matthew Stafford had 102 interceptions in his first 119 games in the NFL. We can play this game all day WBL. You troll.”
If you had to pick Stafford or Baker to hit a target say, 30 yards or more downfield and in stride the most times out of 10, who’d you pick to make that pass more often than not?
@Oscar
You can do the same with Winston in comparison to Baker, who’d be more able and reliable to get the ball upfield having watched both play the same position?
Production doesn’t put all QBs on the same base level, but you Bakettes try your damndest to make its seem this way.
You can slap the roof of that Corolla has hard as you want and try to sell it like it’s an Aston Martin, but the difference in price and performance let’s ya know what ya got
January 1st, 2026 at 11:31 am
Becky read your comment above, agree with all of it except giving Gizzard another chance. The offense imho was awful, so many games lost that receivers were not schemed open. Bowles defense is the heart of the problem though and ever since day 1 with this perennial loser, the league has no fear of us. Now we cannot even stop the run which was Bowles claim to fame. Honestly it is a struggle for the Bucs as they do not get to play a team that has a defense as bad as ours. We need new Offensive and Defensive coaches and coordinators. Jason Licht needs to stop going after the boyscout in the draft and go after the bad MF’s.
January 1st, 2026 at 12:17 pm
Jameis does have a higher yards per completion at 12.4 to Baker’s 11.4. But if it’s a question of getting the ball upfield reliably then it’s Baker by a mile. The more you push the ball downfield the riskier it is. Baker’s career int % is 2.6. Jameis is at 3.5%.
January 1st, 2026 at 1:15 pm
Kenton, go back and watch the play, Mike is squared up ,flat footed and a perfect target right where he stands with a chance for a football move after the catch. Bad passes result in injuries and sometimes get tipped and often fall into
the safeties hands. There was absolutely no reason to throw that pass that high.
January 1st, 2026 at 1:23 pm
Give this moron his 3rd down spreadsheet and lock him in a closet for a couple years. Clueless maroon.
January 1st, 2026 at 2:55 pm
Well Said Becky! The Sooner that the Ultimate Loser (Bowles) is gone, THE BETTER! Blaming Baker for ALL OUR PROBLEMS IS CHILDISH! They just yearn to have their champion BOZO BACK and WILL SAY AND DO ANYTHING TO POINT THE BLAME AT ANYBODY “EXCEPT” THE ULTIMATE LOSER!
Yeah I could EASILY POINT OUT THE HUNDRED REASONS WHY BOZO IS THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS BUT WHY WAIST MORE TIME ON A CLOWN??
Baker HASN’T HAD a chance to do much and YES an interception or two IS ON HIM. But calling Him the overall problem, IS A JOKE! It just NOT REALITY! Of course I’d like to know which savior QB could do so much better than Mayfield WITH THAT CRAP LINE???? HE’S RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE ON EVERY PLAY! CAN’T GET IT GOING WITH THE RUN GAME EITHER! So let’s just blame the qb. YEAH RIGHT! JUST AS LONG AS THEY DON’T HAVE TO BLAME THEIR HERO BOZO BOWLES…. IT’S PERFECT!
You can keep Grizzard as waterboy though. He CERTAINLY HAS NOT “EARNED” A BETTER TITLE…..
January 1st, 2026 at 3:17 pm
I’m not sure that Baker’s issues are injury related….. I HOPE they are but @ this point it feels a little like an excuse others are making for him. I think it’s a mental issue more than physical.
He’s been hesitant, stared down targets too often, under thrown a number of deep balls. The early season heroics late in games were great but not sustainable.
May be Baker, may be Grizz but regardless we’re down 8 points per game over last year. 10 points less since the bye. Not going to win many games with that output even if the much maligned defense played lights out every game.
Let’s go Baker 💪🏼
Let’s go Bucs 🏈
January 1st, 2026 at 11:14 pm
All this focus on Baker ignores the fact that the Bucs are getting blown out on both their offensive line and defensive line. Even a running back like Bucky Irving can only gain 3 yards a carry vs other productive backs gaining 5 yards a carry. Against Miami they were getting to him three yards behind the line of scrimmage. For most of the year there has been no good pocket protection for Mayfield which obviously affects passing productivity. To this you add Grizzard’s woeful play calling. Look at the 49ers offense with its use of motion and misdirection and you can’t help but notice the contrast. On the defensive side you have no effective pass rush which is why almost any QB is ringing up huge numbers against the Bucs. Somebody once said a QBs’ best friend is a good defense. That is true and despite less than perfect offense, any of the last three losses could have been wins if the defense could make a stop here and there.
January 2nd, 2026 at 2:27 pm
I saw Jared Goff throw the same interception, there’s an open receiver but there’s a defensive guy running in the path so you give it time and make the throw. Your man is gone and then, interception.