{"id":856436,"date":"2026-04-06T06:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856436\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:08:16","slug":"lavonte-david-injuries-took-toll-on-baker-mayfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/856436\/","title":{"rendered":"Lavonte David: Injuries Took Toll on Baker Mayfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> quarterback Baker Mayfield started all 17 games last season, but he wasn’t healthy, and one of Mayfield’s former teammates went into detail about everything the star QB was dealing with.<\/p>\n

“Baker was going through a lot,” the recently retired Lavonte David said Friday on “The Arena” podcast. “Baker had a lot of injuries that you didn\u2019t expect a quarterback to play through.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The former Bucs linebacker and 12-year captain on defense ticked off Mayfield’s infirmities during last season — an oblique injury, a shoulder injury, an ankle and knee injuries.<\/p>\n

“He was really trying to push through, and really trying to be the player that we needed him to be.”<\/p>\n

Most of what David said was known, but the ankle injury had not previously been reported. Injury reports released throughout the season indicate Mayfield also had a lingering biceps injury, foot and toe issues early in September, and an undisclosed illness in mid-November that reportedly made its way through the locker room.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the team’s season finale against the Carolina Panthers <\/a>at home, Mayfield appeared on the team’s injury report with a right shoulder\/knee injury, but he powered through to lead the team to a win.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Those weren’t the only problems Mayfield had in 2025. In training camp, Mayfield dealt with a hand injury.<\/p>\n

Mayfield’s injury history in the NFL predates his time in Tampa. In Mayfield’s last season with the Cleveland Browns<\/a> in 2021, he tore the labrum in his left shoulder in Week 2, kept playing, and then fractured his upper arm bone in Week 6. Despite these injuries — along with those to his knee and groin — Mayfield only missed three of Cleveland’s 17 games.<\/p>\n

Cleveland traded Mayfield to the Panthers the next summer, following the team’s trade for Deshaun Watson.<\/p>\n

In 2025, Mayfield wasn’t the same quarterback in the second half of the season as he was in the first half.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Through the first nine games, the 2017 Heisman winner and first overall draft pick in 2018 threw 16 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.<\/p>\n

In the last eight, he threw 10 TDs and nine picks. As Mayfield regressed, so did the team. The Bucs were 6-3 and ended up finishing 8-9, losing the NFC South for the first time since 2019. 2025 also ended up being the last of David’s 14 NFL seasons, all spent in Tampa.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest Bucs ever<\/a> — three All-Pro team selections, 1,172 tackles and a Super Bowl ring — announced late last month he was retiring.<\/p>\n

But it’s already apparent David isn’t fading into the background. In the nearly two-hour podcast episode, David discussed a variety of topics, including Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts; Jameis Winston’s infamous “30-30” season (30 touchdowns, 30 interceptions), which ultimately led to Tom Brady becoming a Buccaneer; and the events that preceded Antonio Brown’s meltdown toward the end of the 2021 season.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Join our ROUNDTABLE community! It’s free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.<\/p>\n

Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield started all 17 games last season, but he wasn’t healthy, and one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[6086,1842,211,260,54,563,7,492,1801,13525,9195,6,209,704,250,2597,2596,1369],"class_list":{"0":"post-856436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-antonio-brown","9":"tag-baker-mayfield","10":"tag-buccaneers","11":"tag-carolina-panthers","12":"tag-cleveland-browns","13":"tag-deshaun-watson","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-jalen-hurts","16":"tag-jameis-winston","17":"tag-knee-injuries","18":"tag-lavonte-david","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-tampa","21":"tag-tampa-bay","22":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","23":"tag-tampabay","24":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers","25":"tag-tom-brady"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}