TAMPA, Fla. – As the curtain fell on the three-game NFL preseason at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday evening, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers outlasted the Baltimore Ravens, 26-20.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield outlasted all of his critics, and a solid challenge from Kyle Trask in the preseason to become the Buccaneers’ Game One starter in Minnesota on Sept. 10.
“The symmetry and chemistry was there, breaking in and out of the huddle, which is what we wanted to see,” said Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles. “He was efficient in the passing game and he went down and got a score.”
Mayfield finished the game 6-of-6 for 42 yards as he led a touchdown drive on the Bucs’ second series. He hit Chris Godwin with an 11-yard touchdown pass that capped a six-play, 59-yard drive that tied the game at 7-7 with 8:19 left in the first quarter.
“I think you guys saw the flow that (Offensive Coordinator) Dave (Canales) got into play-calling wise,” analyzed Mayfield. “Not just Dave, but everybody getting the flow of our game and we’re trying to accomplish.”
Putting on the Trask: Kyle Trask is the backup quarterback, but he managed a 12-play, 94-yard drive where he tossed a 5-yard score to David Wells which gave the Buccaneers a 14-7 lead to end the first quarter.
“The growth has been phenomenal, coming in this year and playing a lot and getting all the experience,” said Bowles. “We’re very comfortable if something happens to Baker, then Kyle can come in and play.”
Trask completed 19 of 31 passes for 192 yards as he had a 45-of-69 completion mark in the three preseason games combined.
Jensen Sidelined for Season: Center Ryan Jensen is the ultimate player on the field and off the field. He has once again been sidelined for the season with cartilage damage in his knee.
“Unfortunately, my knee just wasn’t progressing in an upward and positive way,” said Jensen. “I fought my butt off. I put in more work in this off-season than I probably have in my career and it just wasn’t responding how I needed it to respond for me to go out and play at a high level.”
Jensen continues to suffer the injury in the lateral compartment outside of his knee. He picked the injury up on the second day of practice last season as the ACL, MCL, and PCL all suffered tears.
In A Rush: As the Buccaneers had the last-place rushing attack in the NFL last season, the team needed a new approach on running the ball as well as solidifying their offense.
This is where offensive coordinator Dave Canales came onto the staff and reconfigured how the Bucs will attack.
The running game only posted 1,308 yards and averaged 3.4 per carry last season. With that, Rachaard White will be the featured back inside the Tampa Bay offense.
The Bucs look at Syracuse rookie Sean Tucker and running back Chase Edmonds as the depth in the backfield behind White.
“We know they (Ravens) didn’t have their first guys out there, but it was good to see them get going and getting on the right guy and having some continuity from that standpoint,” noted Bowles.
