Zac Robinson Details The Hurdles Baker Mayfield Had To Overcome With Headset Issues
September 17th, 2026
Zac Robinson explains headset obstacles he and Baker Mayfield had to navigate.
Baker Mayfield dug himself a deep hole last week in Cincinnati with his three lost fumbles. But climbing out of that hole was made even more slippery with his headset being on the fritz.
Speaking today in his weekly press conference, Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson explained the hurdles both he and Mayfield had to overcome just to get plays in and the ball snapped without getting flagged.
And, Robinson said, a delay of game the Bucs were whistled for came as a direct result of not being able to get the plays in smoothly.
“That was a unique situation,” Robinson said. “It lasted the whole game.
“And Baker — we are lucky we have a quarterback who understands the game plan to a high, high level. And he was able to get us in and out of stuff. … He did a great job of handling it.”
To hear Robinson, Mayfield had to play like Joe Rochefort to decipher what Robinson was saying.
Mayfield’s headset cut out “sporadically throughout the drives,” Robinson said, forcing him to say the play twice, which he will do normally. But even then, Robinson said Mayfield wasn’t getting the plays.
“There’d be times I’d kind of look out at him, and I’d say the play twice — I typically say [the play] twice,” Robinson said. “There’d be times I could tell after I said the play [a] second time he’s still standing there. So I was times having to say the play four or five times, and he would kind of get every fourth or fifth word.”
So it became an exercise in cryptography. Mayfield had to put the puzzle together using only a few words, all the while the play clock was ticking down and the Cincinnati crowd roaring.
Mayfield was “able to piece it together,” Robinson said.
Robinson added the delay of game the Bucs were flagged for came as a direct result of Mayfield’s faulty headset.
“We were lucky to have Baker be able to handle that because it was it was a unique situation,” Robinson said. “I don’t think any of us have ever been a part of something like that, but he did a great job handling it.
“It was an issue for sure, but we adjusted on the fly and kind of dealt with it. It’s part of the game of football.”
Joe asked Robinson if the headset issue was strictly with Mayfield’s headset and Robinson said, “yes;” no coaches had any headset issues.
That’s key. The NFL has an “equity rule” stating if a coach’s headset is malfunctioning and coaches cannot communicate with colleagues up in a coach’s box, then the game zebras can order both teams’ communications shut down until both are operating successfully.
Therefore, the “equity rule” did not apply to Sunday’s game as only Mayfield’s headset went haywire.
If you want to know why the Bucs always seemed to be against the play clock all day long, that’s why. It was Mayfield’s helmet.
September 17th, 2026 at 4:31 pm
Your making 55 million a year call your own plays!
September 17th, 2026 at 4:34 pm
No one thought to say F the headset? Come to the sideline get the play and take it to the huddle? I just watched a college game a few weeks ago with SMU vs another team where all comes were disabled due to a power outage. They seemed to figure it out just fine
September 17th, 2026 at 4:39 pm
LEAVE BAKER ALONE!
He’s a human! … It’s not his fault!
September 17th, 2026 at 4:46 pm
I guess the Headset cause the fumbles
September 17th, 2026 at 4:53 pm
Bucs had a number of different ‘issues’ this past Sunday, but things like the QB’s headset constantly malfunctioning just compound things & make them worse.
A pro team should be able to overcome that, but it’s still an irritant & gives the opponent an advantage to some degree. Obviously all teams have backup plans for situations like that (second QB helmet, hand signals, cheat sheets, whatever) but it sounds like that wasn’t adequate either.
The world is full of technology whizzes who can surely make that problem go away. Where were they? Why did the Bucs have the problem but not the Bengals? Equipment differences? Maintenance issues? Something’s amiss.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:06 pm
They didn’t start using headsets until 1994
Teams use to communicate without headsets
September 17th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
Relying on tech is how people ended up as batteries on the matrix, as Í type this from an iPhone 🤣.
Maybe get the wristbands play sheets going, those are still relevant and very effective. So easy, grade school age pop warner kids can call plays off them.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:27 pm
“They didn’t start using headsets until 1994. Teams use to communicate without headsets”
So, something every player in the NFL and most of the coaches have been used to using the past 32 years goes haywire and you expect them to suddenly revert to something teams did way back then, on the fly?
I suppose you think that someone who never has driven a manual transmission car should be prepared to drive a stick. Automatic transmission became the default baseline standard car in the 90s, too.
Or how about this? Have everyone stop using their computers and cell phones for just one day and see how productivity grinds to a halt in almost every company because people don’t know how to do basic filing, math, research or fill out a manual receipt. That was also standard practice in the 90s.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:40 pm
They might as well have robotic players
If they can’t communicate without headsets
September 17th, 2026 at 5:42 pm
👆🏼Fair point, McKirahan.
>Did anyone check the air pressure in footballs?
My point being: No one thought that was a thing…until it was. Not saying, just saying.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:45 pm
So only Baker’s helmet didn’t work? Correction, neither of his helmets worked? Yes that doesn’t pass the smell test.
That could not have been fun to deal with – and getting to the line late and no chance to audible to another play definitely hurt.
Someone was jamming our signal. Not cool and should be investigated. There is no way that everything worked fine pregame and then BOTH of his helmets fall, and only his.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:50 pm
sucks that it happened but a 6+ billion dollar business should have a better backup plan. comm glitches clearly threw them off their game.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:51 pm
This headset crap is just another pathetic excuse for Baker
September 17th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
Agree, 74 bucs fan. Where is the investigation here???
September 17th, 2026 at 5:52 pm
“we just gotta communicate it better”- Todd Bowles every fing year.
September 17th, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Oh so if you didn’t have the headset issues, you would’ve gone into no huddle before it was too late?
September 17th, 2026 at 6:02 pm
Rotate receivers in with the play. You have enough good receivers to rotate at least one out every play and one in with the play but no, we keep struggling with the headset for almost the whole game. Excuses and a$$holes. Everyone has one.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:04 pm
This only happens when you’re on the road and it only happens to the quarterbacks headset. Can fix it by stopping the game until they quit jamming the signal.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:05 pm
Another Signalgate investigation is needed!
September 17th, 2026 at 6:14 pm
The best thing these coaches can do is shut up, stop making excuses and win games! No headset, then have your highly paid veteran QB call the play. BM at this stage in his career should be fully capable and they should have a package of plays they can call at the line, if they go analog. Lots of ways to solve this. Just stop with the excuses. This still is no excuse for the turnovers. Can’t win games with 4 fumbles. Coach, or go home!
September 17th, 2026 at 6:16 pm
We all saw him go over to the sidelines, and switch-out helmets. It doesn’t make any sense that it was JUST “Baker’s HelmetS” (both of them), and NO ONE else’s!? I mean, what the hell is up with that!? It’s an outright conspiracy, I tell you. SABOTAGE.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:28 pm
I was a huge supporter of Jason Licht and Todd Bowles
But, their time is up in Tampa, it’s time for both of them to go
We need a younger, more modern Head Coach
A Head Coach that will hold the players accountable, instead of making excuses for them
We need a GM with an eye for talent, a good talent evaluator
A GM who can sign quality free agents, draft quality players
This duo of Licht and Bowles is only wasting the Glazers money
Wasting it on a bunch of trash players
September 17th, 2026 at 6:38 pm
@ Scott McKirahan – And, another thing… Did you not see him reach over and immediately start grabbing and rubbing that same left shoulder!? While, he was still lying on the ground after the fumble near the goal-line!? What if he was still hurt going into that game, from last season!? And, the Bucs can PROVE that he had been intentionally covering it up all along, during his contract negotiations… Hmmmmm. They lose this upcoming game on Sunday to the Browns, and we get the same old Baker… Then, I’m a looking into that, if I’m the Bucs FO. Though, I never would’ve invested LONGTERM at tip-top of the market MONEY, for an aging, reckless and erratic, inconsistent, often “injured” undersized QUARTERBACK, who’s focused on all the WRONG things, and is one BIG walking distraction. But, hey… That’s just ME. The Bucs will only get what THEY DESERVE. For ALL of THIS. 💯
September 17th, 2026 at 6:47 pm
What is odd is they tried two different helmets with speakers in them and they both had problems. This may sound nuts but at the time I was thinking that maybe someone was jamming the frequency the Bucs use. Kind of like letting some of the air out of the footballs so you can grip them better. A little competitive advantage.
September 17th, 2026 at 6:57 pm
Either 1) have an RB or receiver bring the play on, or 2) use numbers and flash cards from the sidelines. Colleges do that all the time. Geez.
September 17th, 2026 at 7:06 pm
You clowns are unbelievable and just need something to b!tch about. Where in this story did Robinson say this was any kind of an excuse for Baker fumbling the ball? Where did he remotely say he was excusing the fumbles because of the helmet issues?
All he did was verify what we all heard even from the announcers. He is also letting us know it wasn’t a short period but the entire game.
September 17th, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Well, I don’t know what happened to my first post on this topic and where it went!? About last season being the exact same thing… No difference whatsoever. They’d ‘huddle-up’ every single time, and then just allowed the play-clock to tick-away… Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick, Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick, Tick-Tick, FRICKEN-TICKKKKK. There was NO RHYTHM. Kentucky and Will Stein’s Offense did the exact same thing against BAMA last Saturday, & I see-it EVERY SINGLE WEEK… 💯 of those teams ALL struggle with getting into ANY rhythm, at ALL. Though, it did make it awfully easy for the DEFENSE to get into a rhythm… Hell, THEY friggin LOVED IT. They could just ‘pin the their ears back’ and time/jump the SNAP literally, all day long. Then, you add to it the whole ‘run-game’ with Otton. It’s waaaayyy too PREDICTABLE. Everything. So, guess we’ll see if anything has truly “changed” as the season goes on. It should be SO easy, too! Especially, with a veteran at Quarterback… I mean, you’d think.
September 17th, 2026 at 7:26 pm
@ DBS Says: “He is also letting us know it wasn’t a short period but the entire game.”
The announcers acted as if it was solved rather quickly, then Baker said postgame that it really only affected the first couple of plays, and kind of sporadically maybe, throughout the rest of the 1st-Quarter. Sounds like, they need to get their story straight. Cause, Baker said there weren’t any issues after the 1st-Quarter, is what I thought I heard. But, maybe he meant that it wasn’t a problem after HE stopped turning the ball over!? I really don’t know… That’s why I am labeling it as one big conspiracy. Possible, SABOTAGE. Haha
September 17th, 2026 at 7:33 pm
go out and get open
September 17th, 2026 at 7:56 pm
More excuses for Our sorry A$$ QB, what’s going to be the excuse after Sundays loss to the Browns????? 0-3, here we come!!!
September 17th, 2026 at 8:05 pm
DBS Says:
…excuse for Baker … He is … short …
———
No need for that. He’s our franchise QB and here for years to come. And there’s nothing wrong with being 5′ 8″ in any case.
September 17th, 2026 at 8:06 pm
HeavyE Says:
September 17th, 2026 at 7:56 pm
More excuses for Our sorry A$$ QB, what’s going to be the excuse after Sundays loss to the Browns????? 0-3, here we come!!!
———
WOW… losing to the Browns now means you get TWO loses!?! That seems unfair.
September 17th, 2026 at 8:28 pm
Imagine Baker makes same as Josh Allen $55 milly a year. Crazyness. Nothing to do with article, but damn no comparison.
September 17th, 2026 at 8:33 pm
What a loser.
September 17th, 2026 at 8:52 pm
When you get fully accustomed to using and relying on a technology, adapting when it suddenly fails is no minor issue. If you don’t believe it, ask a colleague to disable your work computer without notice, and see how productive you are over the next three hours.
September 17th, 2026 at 8:55 pm
MelvinJunior, you are clearly a moron. Yeah, Baker is hiding an injury that never healed. That’s why he completed 82% of his passes in the game.
Fumbles happen, especially when you are hit blind sided from behind. Still, Baker’s fault for not being aware of his surroundings, I’ll agree, but please, stop with the ridiculous injury conspiracy theories!