The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will resume practicing at their 2025 training camp on Tuesday after two days away from the field. For starting quarterback Baker Mayfield, it has actually been four days of inactivity.
Mayfield was held out of practice on Friday and Saturday for what Head Coach Todd Bowles called a sore right (throwing) hand. At the time, Bowles said the injury was not a significant concern, and on Saturday he said Mayfield will be back in action soon.
“He’ll be back next week,” said Bowles.
Indeed, the Buccaneers expect Mayfield to be on the field on Tuesday for the team’s two-hour, fully-padded practice. Given the command of the offense that the eighth-year passer has shown over the course of two Pro Bowl campaigns in Tampa, it’s hardly a problem for him to miss a couple August workouts. That said, his return to action is well-timed because this week’s work will include a joint practice with the Tennessee Titans at the AdventHealth Training Center on Thursday.
The advantage of joint practices in the middle of a long run of repetitive camp practices is that the other team offers unexpected looks and every play won or lost is unequivocal. In a typical camp practice involving just the Bucs’ own roster, big plays such as interceptions are double-edged swords because they are both good and bad plays for one side of the ball.