Todd Bowles Talks Turnovers With Baker Mayfield Constantly
September 16th, 2026
Though it may not be seen by fans, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is constantly talking to Baker Mayfield about turnovers.
That was the message from Bowles yesterday on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
Bowles was asked how he tries to approach Mayfield and “talk with him about that sweet spot” of balancing taking chances and protecting the football.
“It’s a constant back and forth. You know, he has a great feel for when has to [scramble], but he also has to have a great feel at times of when he has to kind of go down or at least tuck it away in those aspects of it. Or at least keep [the ball] high and tight,” Bowles said of Mayfield. “And he understands that more than anybody and I’m sure he’ll correct that.”
Mayfield looked like a rookie on Sunday, inconsistent and sloppy. Joe suspects that will change in a hurry.
September 16th, 2026 at 9:35 am
Todd Bowles isn’t the right coach for this team
He’s too soft, too nice, a weak HC
Baker Mayfield need a tougher HC
Someone like a Brian Flores, John Harbaugh, Andy Reid etc
Todd Bowles and Jason Licht are two weaklings
After Mayfield poor performance during last season collapse
Licht and Bowles convinced the Glazers to give him a record extension
That’s piss poor management and coaching
September 16th, 2026 at 9:37 am
Lol man come on.. in the NFL that convo isnt necessary.. all things always point back to Coaching for everyone… but… holding on to the football is on the player… Bowles cant hold on to the ball for him..
Look I get people love to have stuff to talk about… but the QB that fumbles the most fumbled the game away.. its that simple.. Bucs had no chance to win because of Baker
September 16th, 2026 at 9:37 am
20 lost fumbles by Baker since 2023, he is who he is.
September 16th, 2026 at 9:39 am
“Be yourself, Bake, but take care of the damn ball. That’s what winners do.”
LMAO, this is like getting in your Prius and asking it to be a Lamborghini
September 16th, 2026 at 9:49 am
You can’t teach a old dog new tricks
Baker Mayfield isn’t a spring chick, he’s been around
He’s had 5 Head Coaches , at least 8-10 Offensive Coordinators or more
And he still haven’t learned to hold on to the ball?
You can’t teach that to him, it’s impossible
September 16th, 2026 at 9:52 am
He is what he is, sadly. All we needed were those seven points he coughed up into the endzone. Burrow slid in a similar location. The situation was different because Baker was scrambling while Burrow saw a boulevard through the defense. Somehow, after all these years, Mayfield does not understand that he is not a big guy and that smaller players fumble more often.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:03 am
The word is out on Butterhands Baker. Some of you might remember Mike Alstott and his slippery hands. They could not tackle him but once the league had tape on it, they went for the strip each time. Baker is going to have the same attention and will need to overemphasize his attention to this detail until he proves that defenses can’t just focus on the easy fumble in their approach to counter all of his Great Houdini work avoiding them. What was the difference between that one fumble in the first quarter after he escaped the sack and looked as if he was going to score and the later near exact scramble where he did score? The Fumble. That is how simple it is. That fumble as he was about to score not only took away points, it was also a momentum swing and confidence shot. LFG but hold on to the Friggin’ Ball Bake!!!
September 16th, 2026 at 10:05 am
Talking about it all the time, huh? So, how is that working out?
Oh wait. I get it. Bowles inability to influence Baker’s ball security isn’t his fault because he tells him turnovers are undesirable. So I guess Baker is fully aware of that fact, but wouldn’t have been if not for Bowles letting him know.
Bowels will never change. He is more motivated by CYA than he is results.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:16 am
“Mayfield looked like a rookie on Sunday, inconsistent and sloppy. Joe suspects that will change in a hurry.”
Lmao. Here are a few facts:
Baker has had 12 total turnovers (9 interceptions and 3 lost fumbles) across his last
10 games.
• Interceptions: 9
• Fumbles Lost: 3
◦ Total Fumbles: 6 (with 3 recovered by his own team)
This is who he is. This is year 9 and hes playing like a rookie backup. He won’t get better. He’ll play ok for a game or two then revert back to factory settings.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:20 am
I wonder if the fat new contract got in his head and made him try to do more? Yeah, he’s Baker and that’s what he does, but he looked a little more Bakery to me.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:24 am
“BucNeckid”
Elite username btw, Bernie Mac is smiling down on you.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:32 am
Captain Short Arms still thinks he’s Brett Favre.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:37 am
Bee
PREACH!!!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
September 16th, 2026 at 10:47 am
Turd Bowels needs to talk to his DC about the nonexistent pass rush.
Oh wait, he is that man! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡🤡🤡
September 16th, 2026 at 10:58 am
Is Baker a slow learner, too cocky or whatever!@#%$, he needs stop leading the league in fumbles. His ego is bigger than his play. Not sure he will overcome his reckless play. If not get Jalen Daniel’s ready to be in a legitimate replacement for Mayfield next year. Force him to correct his recklessness or lose his starting role.
September 16th, 2026 at 10:58 am
What Bosch said.
Simply telling someone isn’t the same as meaning or leading or influencing them effectively.
September 16th, 2026 at 11:08 am
Sigh. Baker is either too stupid or too arrogant and selfish to do anything different. He makes stupid decisions. He treats a 1st and 5 in the red zone like the absolute last play of the Super Bowl. There is no situational awareness. Hero ball is idiot ball. It’s Jameis ball. And the Bucs will never ever win a Super Bowl with his me-first short man’s syndrome chicken with its head cut off play. So they’ll waste the next two years before the ownership and Jason finally figure it out. Icing on the cake is that there are enough good players on the team to not lose enough to draft an ACTUAL franchise QB. Enjoy the mediocrity boys!
September 16th, 2026 at 11:16 am
“And he understands that more than anybody and I’m sure he’ll correct that.”
not too sure about that.
baker may understand it but he isnt going to change or correct it, as he has shown his entire time here. this isnt the first time todd has said this and baker isnt going to change, for good or bad he is going to keep scrambling and gambling.
September 16th, 2026 at 11:21 am
We gave up on Jameis because of his turnovers. Knowing Baker is a turnover machine we sign him to a 3 year 165 million contract. Go figure.
September 16th, 2026 at 12:01 pm
WBL … ‘this is like getting in your Prius and asking it to be a Lamborghini’.
I couldn’t stop laughing on that one, it’s so ‘visual’. Mega kudos.
BTW, I think it was Baker’s first fumble, but he was scrambling and holding the ball in his left hand straight out, like he was trying to stretch for a 1st down or something. Needless to say it was stripped. Even high-schooler QBs don’t do that in a scramble situation; they know better. Not Baker though.
September 16th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
Most turnovers ( interceptions plus lost fumbles) per game played between 2023-2025.
1. Tua 1.05
2. Lawrence 1.02
3. Purdy 1.00
4. Smith .96
5. Young .91
6. Baker .88
7. Mahomes .85
8. Allen .84
9. Hurts .83
10. Goff .80
And for those that want to imply that he is Jameis ll, between 2017-2019, a 3 year sample in 40 games, Jameis had 55 picks and 15 lost fumbles for a total turnover percentage per game average of 1.75.
With regard to lost fumbles between 2023-2025, Hurts was number 1 with 14, Young had 12, Lawrence had 11, Allen and Goff had 9, Tua and Baker had 8. Baker played in more games than all of those guys except Allen and Goff, who played all 51 games as Baker did.
September 16th, 2026 at 12:42 pm
Fire the Cannons must be mistaken when he stated that Baker has 20 lost fumbles between 2023 and 2025.
September 16th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
“BTW, I think it was Baker’s first fumble, but he was scrambling and holding the ball in his left hand straight out, like he was trying to stretch for a 1st down or something.”
Like he just stole a loaf of bread and it’s still hot to the touch
September 16th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Those stats when combined with level of production and percentage differential between touchdown pass percentage and turnover percentage in the top 7 between 2023 and 2025, paint a different picture. On a mediocre team to boot.
September 16th, 2026 at 12:54 pm
“Fire the Cannons must be mistaken when he stated that Baker has 20 lost fumbles between 2023 and 2025.”
There’s been so many it’s kind of hard to keep count, but putting the ball on the ground >20 times than the 2nd guy to do the same is kind of bad. Especially considering he’s touches the ball every play. That’s not “bad luck” it’s not a matter of fact thing, it’s a habit/tendency.
Also, he’s finally overtaken Josh Allen for the most turnovers since being drafted. The kicker is Allen has played in at least 5 more games than Baker and even with Baker only start what 8 games in ’22 he still managed to come back and take that title from Josh Allen. So you guys can say there’s at the least 1 thing Baker does better than Josh, but it’s in no way shape or form good.
September 16th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
WBL, you are correct, Baker has surpassed Allen in Turnovers per game since 2018 with Baker at 1.17 per game and Allen at 1.11. But there’s a big difference between Fire the Cannons saying it is 20 lost fumbles between 2023-2025 when in fact the number is 8. After game 1 of 2026, that number is now 11 of course.
September 16th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
Yeah. I could tell going in (to opening day) that Baker was supremely confident in his offense. And he should be. Licht has a bunch of studs on that offense.
Fine line between confidence and overconfidence. Cross that line, sometimes you get a slice of humble pie. Baker got a fat,juicy slice of that pie Sunday, and he’s had to eat the whole thing.
Maybe we’re lucky that it happened early. I think it was a big enough slice to last a season.
September 16th, 2026 at 1:23 pm
Mayfield looked like a rookie on Sunday, inconsistent and sloppy. Joe suspects that will change in a hurry.
———–
The Bucs have lost 5 of their last 6 games — and ALL 5 loses are 100% on Baker Mayfield for making stupid plays in key situations (generally many stupid plays).
As for that suddenly changing… well Baker leads the NFL in turnovers since the beginning of the 2023 season.