Bucs hold Baker Mayfield out in preseason win over Jets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Poker-faced Bucs coach Todd Bowles has not changed expression anytime he’s been asked whether Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask is winning the quarterback competition.
But Bowles may have tipped his hand during Saturday night’s 13-6 preseason win over the New York Jets.
After watching Trask pass for 123 yards and a touchdown in the first half, Bowles elected to replace him in the third quarter with No. 3 quarterback John Wolford.
Wolford was injured with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter after he was sacked by the Jets’ Jalyn Holmes, striking his head on the turf. He was surrounded by the entire Bucs team, who took a knee on the field as Wolford was stabilized and loaded onto a cart.
Wolford was taken to a local hospital with a neck injury but had movement in his extremities, Bowles said.
Bowles, however, elected to reinsert Trask back in the game, saying he was already warmed up. He also said he was reluctant to put Mayfield in the game after pulling most of the offensive line that had started the game.
“We were going to play Baker at the end of the (first) half, but we wanted to see Kyle in the two-minute period so we kind of left him in and the time kind of went down,” Bowles said. “We wanted to play John in the second half. It wasn’t fair to Baker in without the line he had. Trask was already warmed up so when John got hurt we just put him back in.”
Trask, who finished 20 of 28 passing for 218 yards and was sacked twice, said he didn’t intend to play at all in the second half. As for being warmed up, he didn’t even bring his helmet back to the field after halftime. But fortunately, an equipment man had handed Trask’s helmet to Mayfield.
“When I went back in there, we were just going to try to run the ball,” Trask said. “Get our legs back moving again. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on bringing my helmet out the second half because I thought I was done.”
Of course, it seems more likely the Bucs and Bowles were protecting Mayfield for what is almost certain to be his first start for the Bucs in the Sept. 10 regular-season opener at Minnesota. Mayfield dressed and left the Bucs’ locker room before reporters entered. Trask seemed just as curious as to why he went back in the game as anyone. Does he think Bowles has made a decision?
“I have no idea,” Trask said. “I try to control what I can control, man. I try to make the most of the reps I get and the rest is not in my hands. I’m just trying to do what I can.”
Mayfield, 28, carried a big edge in experience over Trask after signing a one-year, $4 million contract with the team in March. The former No. 1 overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner has been a starter for the Browns, Panthers and Rams in the last calendar year alone while Trask had only attempted nine NFL passes in two seasons.
In his only appearance, Mayfield started the first preseason game against the Steelers and completed 8-of-9 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Regardless of who is under center for the Bucs, they will have some exciting rookies to make plays for them.
For the second straight game, Nebraska rookie Trey Palmer made a circus catch in the end zone. A week ago, he had a fingertip grab of an 8-yard TD from Mayfield, keeping both feet in bounds in the back of the end zone.
On Saturday, Palmer got behind Jets safety Trey Dean and tipped a pass with one hand to himself for a 33-yard touchdown pass from Trask to give the Bucs the lead.
“I wanted to take a shot there,” Trask said. ”If the safeties rolled back to one high, we wanted to take a shot to Trey. He’s been making a lot of big plays for us in practice. So they rolled back, we took a shot and Trey made a remarkable catch.”
Another standout from Saturday’s game was free-agent rookie running back Sean Tucker, who had 55 yards (37 yards rushing on seven carries) on 10 touches in the first half, twice picking up yards in fourth-down situations.
The Bucs’ patchwork defense kept the Jets and quarterback Zach Wilson out of the end zone while producing three turnovers. Linebacker J.J. Russell forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Anthony Nelson, and Dee Delaney had an interception off his shoe tops in the end zone for a touchback. Cornerback Anthony Chesley recovered a fumble late.
Mayfields checking up on investments
Mayfield and his wife, Emily, had attorneys file a petition in district court in Austin, Texas, requesting information regarding the possible misappropriation of $12 million by a firm where family members of the quarterback work.
According to a report by KXAN, an NBC affiliate in Texas, the petition was filed Tuesday in Travis County asking the defendants — Camwood Capital Management Group, Camwood Ventures, Texas Contract Manufacturing Group, Unitech, Apex Machining and Lor-Van — to turn over financial records and provide oral depositions of witnesses to help the Mayfields determine where the money has gone over the course of five years.
“Petitioners simply do not know if their money has been properly and competently invested, has been stolen or otherwise misappropriated, or something in between,” the petition stated, according to KXAN.
Mayfield’s agent, Jack Mills, said the family members involved were mostly Mayfield’s dad and brother.
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