Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a sprain to his left, non-throwing shoulder on Sunday against the Rams, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Mayfield left midway through the game and did not return to the field. He could be seen on the sidelines sporting a sling on his left arm as backup Teddy Bridgewater closed out the 34-7 loss. Bridgewater would start if Mayfield has to miss any time.
An MRI on Monday confirmed the initial suspicion that Mayfield suffered a sprained AC joint. The sprain is considered “low-grade” (via Rapoport) and there was no additional damage to Mayfield’s shoulder, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The 30-year-old’s status for next week’s game against the Cardinals is still up in the air, but he appears to have avoided a major injury that could have seriously threatened the Buccaneers’ playoff chances.
After a strong start to the season, Tampa Bay’s lead in the NFC South has evaporated. At 6-5, they are now tied for first place with Carolina, and though the Buccaneers hold the tiebreaker, they have lost three straight while the Panthers have won five of their last seven. An absence from Mayfield would be a huge blow to an offense that floundered without him on Sunday, though the Bucs do have a relatively easy schedule for the rest of the year. Their next three opponents are a combined 9-24 on the season; after that are two crucial matchups with the Panthers with a game against the 4-7 Dolphins.
Mayfield’s Week 13 status is still up in the air, but he has played through a number of injuries in his career. Since the injury is to his non-throwing shoulder, he may choose to wear a brace or some other protective equipment and attempt to take the field in Week 13 anyway. Tampa Bay could also try to beat the 3-8 Cardinals next week without Mayfield in the hopes that a week off will give his shoulder enough time to heal up for the final stretch of the year.
Well while Mayfield sprained his non throwing shoulder…I think Todd Bowles Sprained his Brain…His Defense Sucks!!!
The Defense has been atrocious for most of the season…so why is Todd Bowles soooo valuable to this franchise?
Great Googly Moogly Smh
Even if he schemed everything up great the players need to make plays. The offense has not been good either. The Bills and Pats games the defense made stops and got turnovers but the offense either went 3 and out or got a fg.
Eagles game Tykee had an Int that could have setup game winning drive they just didn’t get it. Special teams being bad hurts the defense way more than offense. The special teams let Bills be mid field every drive, st gave that blocked punt in Eagles game, almost lost Jets game.
Defense does have issue but it’s easy to just blame them because the league and media is offense minded.
Zyon needs to play tougher as Davante had his way. The Pats game he let the sideline catch in the final drive happen instead of pushing guy trying to dislodge ball.
AW does not make enough plays vs better teams.
Tykee is the best defender on the team though.
LVD is too old to be having so much responsibility on defense but SVD basically a rookie. Dline lost Kancey, Reddick, and Walker who were all suppose to be the pass rushers.
Hopefully if the offense gets healthy they can sustain drives that give defense rest and off the field
I would hope they can beat AZ with Teddy and maybe Saints. Baker is not going to want to sit and rest.