By – Bucs Report – Special to Sports Talk Florida
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield heads into the 2024 NFL season with a new three-year contract. That’s a stark difference from what Mayfield faced heading into the 2023. Turns out leading the team to a division title and beating the dreaded Philadelphia Eagles in the first-round of the playoffs resets the narrative around you. This is a great way to get that chip off your shoulder right?
According to Bucs position coach Thad Lewis, that chip on Mayfield’s shoulder is still there.
“It’s different because we know who the quarterback is, that’s first,” Lewis stated. Secondly, he has a contract so the guys know it’s his team — he knows it’s his team. He’s confident and comfortable because he’s been in this scheme before, before he came here, and it has some similarities. So, he’s not thinking.”
Lewis continued,
“I think the chip on his shoulder can not completely fall off, but … he can be at ease a little bit. And I think that’ll never go away because of how was brought up and I think that’s his motivating factor. But, at the same time, he’s confident, comfortable. You can tell he’s getting guys in order. They’re communicating. He’s demanding it from the guys and himself — so you can kind of see it’s not a learning curve right now. It’s more, let’s grow as a team and as a unit.”
Lewis says Mayfield seems to have more confidence, but noted that it’s not like Mayfield lacked said confidence prior to 2023.
“I think anybody with a chip or not, you’re playing the quarterback position, you have to go out there and let it rip,” Lewis stated. “I think right now, he can see where things can go, what guys can do best, what he can demand out of certain guys, what he can demand out of himself. He can push the envelope in that aspect because he knows what’s going on. I think it gives us an added confidence that he can just go in and play … freely. Last year, his message was that we allowed him to be himself. He knows that we’re going to allow him to be himself — as long as it’s within the grand scheme of the offense, with him being himself, we can be a great unit, for sure.”
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Now this isn’t to say Lewis doesn’t think Mayfield has room for improvement. Specifically his footwork.
“[D]oing the dance with the passes, giving the running backs the lane with the footwork, getting the ball deep — just little things like that to grow in this offense,” Lewis continued. “So, he’s going to have that confidence in that aspect, you’re going to give him the keys to the car. But as long as he stays hungry and humble and just goes and continues to be the guy he is, the offense can continue to push and get better. He’s been working on that, so that’s a good sign for him and this unit going forward.
Mayfield seems to have found a home in Tampa. This is proven obviously by the new contract and that the Buccaneers didn’t select a quarterback in this year’s draft.
Now that Mayfield has the security of a new contract, and an offensive coordinator that reportedly was hired because of his fit with Mayfield’s style, the sky’s the limit for Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
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