Baker Mayfield: Step Up & Execute | Press Conference | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield: Step Up & Execute | Press Conference | Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hello. Hello. You had to do this before. It’s not ideal by any means, but you’ve had to to play and and move the ball and score touchdowns without Mike Evans, but can you just speak to the loss and maybe how Shep and and Mecca can can carry the loop for you guys? Yeah, obviously, uh, Mike’s guy that completely changes, uh, how teams play us. Um, he draws a lot of attention. So, uh, I mean, obviously in the midst of a game, didn’t really see them adjust and adapt that much, um, when it came to a Mecca, but, uh, yeah, we’ll see. It just everybody’s got to step up. You can’t have one person’s not going to fill Mike’s shoes. U, so, everybody’s got to step up and and do their role at a very high level, um, and execute against a a good ball club. Sterling Shepard has the second most receiving yards on this team. uh just how helpful has he been throughout the injuries, not just this year, but going back to last year, too? Um he stepped up in a big way. Um a guy that, you know, I’ve said he’s able to win in man coverage. Uh has been there in clutch moments. Made some really big time plays in those moments for us. And uh a guy that continues to bring the juice for us. Morale guy that uh everybody gets a kick out of. So he’s uh we’re lucky to have him. Um just trying to, you know, keep him contained. We’ll see if Chris can play later this week, but but if he does go, um you know, there’s another energy go. What does he What would that mean to have him? Obviously like to have Mike, too, but what would it mean to have Chris in that? Um just great. I mean, he’s just you, you know, when he’s in there, good things are going to happen. He just gets everybody on the same page whether he’s really communicating it or not. Uh he’s going to correct if somebody messes up. So, it’s uh he’s always great to have in there. So, we’ll see. Hopefully, he can. Um that’s what we’re hoping for. Uh but yeah, it’d be great to have him out there. How do he look physically today cutting rounds? Uh I thought he’s looked great. Um you know, obviously I’m not in his body, but uh he looks great. I think just with the some of the scout team stuff and the practices that he’s he’s been able to do and then today again um just continues to get better. I mean there is a difference and you know being able to run some routes during the week and then game shape just getting a lot more reps. So we’ll see hopefully um no setbacks and he keeps progressing. How proud are you, Baker, of the team’s execution during these late drives? And um will that fuel confidence going forward in those type of situations? Yeah, I definitely think it um just having those experiences under your belt, whether good or bad, you have mental reps, but obviously when they go well, it builds confidence. Um just everybody, I mean, there’s been different guys that have stepped up and made plays in those moments the first three weeks. And um obviously last week with different O line in there having some protection checks and them executing it really, really well. Um that’s huge. So, uh, that that builds confidence. Now we have true tape and the two-minute stuff that we can te teach off of, uh, and continue to build in that regard. Because this time last year, you guys were preparing to play this same team. Two years ago was the Lions, and you kind of talked about those two games in both of those years being lit in his test. Is that kind of the feeling this week as well? Um, yeah. I mean, you you love I mean, every single week in this league is competitive, don’t get me wrong on that. Um, but when you’re playing the Super Bowl champs from last year, uh, a team that’s, you know, really, really good, you always try and, uh, elevate your game a little bit. Um, but yeah, we’re we’re trying to set the tone on our own end. You know, it’s, like I said, it’s this year is about not just winning the division, but the goals after that. We got to take it one game at a time. And, uh, this week we have a great opponent in the Eagles. You’ve had success against them. What has been the key to do that when you play? Starting fast, executing. um as cliche as it is doing all the little things right you know it’s it’s a team that lines up and they do what they do and they do it really well so we have to do the same thing match that energy and I mean it’s between their O line and their Dline obviously this game this game is going to be one in the trenches and uh that’s that’s the way we like it we we trust our big boys we trust our D line and uh it’s a great matchup for those guys as well 78 is back and you know he’s practicing this week with hope that that would be the case that obviously that could potentially put some other guys in their spots. Just what would what is your comfort level when when you have the big guy on the left side there? Uh it’s it’s a little different when he’s in there. Um you know uh obviously having a a full year under our belt with Graham at center, Ben at left guard, Tristan at left tackle. Just the communication, understanding what’s getting done on that left side when he’s in there. Um you can kind of cross that off the mind. You don’t really worry about it uh as much. I mean, so it it hopefully it happens. Um it’s definitely a luxury to have when 78’s back there and you can leave him on an island um knowing that he’s going to shut it down. But yeah, we’ll see what happens. Adjust and adapt and that’s what we’ve had to do so far. You talked about with Sterling kind of keeping him contained and and you know control the chaos a little bit with him. But what about with Chris his personality? Does he have a calming effect on you and and the rest of the team? I I know his temperament you know off the field he’s a very even keeled guy. Yeah, I’d say him and Amech are really similar in that regard. Um, even Keel really never get too high. The only time they get low is when they beat themselves up if they don’t make a play. Um, they’re just that competitive. They understand what they’re able to do and if they don’t do it right, they’re really hard on themselves. Not that they outwardly express it, but you can tell. Um, so yeah, Chris is a guy that obviously so much experience, has played a lot of ball at a high level. Um, so when he’s in there, guys just trust him. We all do. Baker, the Eagles have spent a lot of draft capital on their secondary and they got some playmakers from Quinan Mitchell, Cooper Deene, they’ve added another one in and Mabuka, the safety from Texas, Reed Blankenship. Yeah. Can you just speak to the playmakers they have in there and you’ve been very good with the football so far this year and how that has to continue? Yeah. Um I I think, you know, I think it starts with Reed. Um he’s just able to get those guys lined up. He he’s veteran player recognizes patterns, concepts really quickly. He’s able to uh take advantage of that and play aggressive. Um I mean you mentioned it quan some a young player young corner that’s coming into his own and obviously with Cooper in there uh versatile guy a guy that they can put it corner safety nickel kind of line him up wherever. Uh so yeah they they’ve they’ve done a really good job picking up great talent and then um just also how they play together. You can tell they understand their scheme. They’re they’re playing um on the same wavelength. No no no giveaways through the three weeks. How critical has that been to the success of the start? It’s been huge. Obviously these tight ball games, turnovers really really matter. Obviously our defense last week getting two of them was huge. Uh that was a difference in the game and um so we got to continue to take care of the ball. A couple couple fumbles for me that um really got to tighten that up. Uh obviously we’ve been lucky they haven’t gotten them but um yeah continue to take care of the ball in the air and our runners protect the ball as well. You were miked up for the game and um I think people really enjoy that. But uh and this is kind of a general question but like what do you and the officials talk about when you’re out there and how closely do you pay attention how close that you can actually that you can actually repeat I should say. Um and then how closely do you pay attention to who’s going to be on each game each week? Oh yeah. We always know the ref crews early in the week. um you understand what they call uh you know if they’re heavy-handed on certain things. Um and yeah, conversation’s not always very pleasant. Um what are you going to do? Do you kind of like that back and forth with them or do you like the kind of being able to build relationship if they’re on our side? Yeah. But if they’re not then no, I don’t enjoy it. The Eagles are coming in a day early to get I guess they used to beat. Um how did you handle it last week and And how do do you notice defensive backs, other players struggling with it, and do you actively say we need to go after that guy? Then how does it all play in? Um, yeah, it’s it’s for sure an advantage for us. Um, not that we’re, you know, able to just withstand all the heat. Uh, but we got to tell ourselves we’ve been in it for a long time and we’ve been dealing with it for longer than the other team has. And so, uh, yeah, we looked at it. They did a good job of rotating their D line quite a bit, getting fresh legs in there every once in a while. So, it wasn’t as big of a difference on the front that that it has been in the past, just because they did they did a good job of it. Uh, you could tell in the secondary though, those guys were tired. Uh, especially with what we were doing last week, putting the ball in the perimeter, making them chase and tackle. Um, so we can feel it and that’s when that’s when you got to tell yourself and and guys in the huddle will say, “Hey, we are not as tired as they are. We got to push finish this one in the end zone.” So, it’s always good to have that uh somebody just remind you of that. Do you have a favorite official? I’m not trying to get you fined. I promise. No, I love them all. What What did coke Keith mean mean to this team? Todd just told us that that he will miss the rest of the season. Yeah. Um which really really stinks. U a guy that special teams does a a ton for us. A guy that doesn’t get a lot of credit in that regard. Um and then offensively tone setter. He’s always he’s always touching you until the whistle is blown and somebody’s pulling you off. And so, um, when you have a guy like that and and Cody was like that, too, for us. So, it’s, uh, we’re going to have we’re going to have to have guys step up and do that because we we want to have, you know, our identity as being smart and a tough team, but also physical physical ball. And we lost two guys for the year that, uh, have done that for us. So, um, we’re have to have guys step up and, uh, set that tone for us. When you win all these close games the way you have, not been done in history and all that, but is there is there kind of a thread there that tells you that, you know, lost those games before that there’s a maturity about this team that that hasn’t existed. In other words, this isn’t happen stance, right? Do you feel something that that is different about this club? I do. I I felt different about this team this year um for a while now just with some of the new additions that we’ve had um the potential, but it’s also you don’t know what it’s going to be until it happens. And so, obviously, the way that this group has handled it um the way guys have been able to execute, that’s huge. That is maturity. That’s growth. That’s guys taking what we’ve talked about and being able to transfer it into a critical moment, which really I don’t know if I can put it into words, how difficult that is in the heat of a moment to be able to calmly think and execute and do the little details right. And it’s it’s not like we’re doing these crazy schemes in these moments. Guys are just doing the little things right and executing it. In terms of the little things, you guys had a lot of penalties in this game. I know you had Elijah and Luke were stepping into some big shoes. They had four holding calls. just what do you say to those guys or any of your teammates to get everybody to settle down? Um I one of those drives was so long and we only ended up with three points. I think it was 16 plays, three points. I don’t know how many third downs we had. Almost ran through our whole third down call sheet. Um but in those moments you tell those guys, hey, you know, obviously if that’s how they’re going to call it, um once you get back to the sideline, if that’s how they’re going to call it, got to let go earlier on some of them. In the moment of it, you can’t you can’t change it. You can’t go back and fix it. So really dwelling on it is not going to do anything for you, but we can learn from it. We can say, “Hey, if they’re going to call it that close, like I said, let go earlier and just move on.” Bigger, with Mike Evans being the latest wide receiver to go down, how much more emphasis, if any, does it put on involving Kottton in the passing game? Yeah. Um, it a lot. I mean, it’s it’s tough to say uh until we know if Tristan’s going or not because we’ve asked those tight ends to help on the edges, chipping and doing that and some of the dirty work, which um they’ve done a great job of. But um it’s tough to say until then, but we would love to get Kade more involved just because how reliable he is, always in the right spot at the right time. Have you heard two more Irving on the juke that he made on the defenders last weekend or maybe even TZ as well? I have not. Did they say something? They gave you no love. No. It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s cold world. Big fan is a big fan of yours. He kind of took a shot at GMs. You let you go in the past. Have your paths crossed outside of on the field. Do you know him? Uh, no. Just small interactions here and there. Guys that have been on the same staff as him. Um, everybody calls him Uncle Vic. Uh, it’s apparently everybody loves to play for him. Obviously, I’ve never done that, never been on the same staff, but respect the guy tremendously. Um he leads, calls the game well and so it’ll be a good match up for us. Thank you.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Baker Mayfield spoke to the media after Wednesday’s Week 4 practice. QB Mayfield discussed players stepping up in the WR room, the team’s success during late game drives and the upcoming litmus test vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

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