Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield addresses concerns about 'UFC' playing style

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is aware his coaches want him to sometimes do a better job of protecting himself during games. 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Mayfield indicated he won't be changing his playing style anytime soon. 

"I’m trying to win games," Mayfield said, as shared by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. "It’s football. There’s a time and place. On third downs, you’ve got to have situations where I’m going to try and do everything I can to get the first down or whatever we need."

Per Adam Slivon of Pewter Report, first-year Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard said in May that Mayfield "plays the game like a UFC fighter" and that Tampa Bay is "trying to take a couple of the hits off him and [have him not play] like that all the time." That was hardly the first time a Buccaneers coach has made such a comment about the leader of the team's offense over the past few years. 

In the fall of 2023, Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles admitted that he wanted Mayfield to take fewer hits during games after the signal-caller developed a reputation for welcoming contact both inside and outside the pocket. More recently, Mayfield received praise from analysts and fans for the way he used his left arm to hold off San Francisco 49ers pass-rusher Nick Bosa while completing a fourth-down pass to keep a drive alive this past November. 

Such highlight-reel moments leave lasting impacts on a quarterback. In June 2024, former Buccaneers defensive star Gerald McCoy revealed that Mayfield "spent most of the 2023 offseason rehabbing" from injuries the quarterback endured during the previous season. While Mayfield didn't miss a start over the first two campaigns of his Tampa Bay tenure, he was visibly banged up late last season.

"There’s also a time and place to throw the ball away," Mayfield acknowledged. "When it comes to protecting myself, I think the biggest thing is the sack numbers. A lot of that was from holding onto the ball. There’s give and take. There’s the scramble element trying to create explosive plays. But also, the situations in the game, where are we at? Are we leading? Don’t force the ball and trust our defense to get it back for us."

Per ESPN stats, Mayfield took the ninth-most sacks (40, tied with Aaron Rodgers) in the NFL last season. Mayfield avoiding even a handful of those blows by throwing the ball away in certain instances could help keep him healthier than he's previously been for must-win January games.