Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield claims Bryce Young 'played his balls off'

There may be a certain degree of kinship between Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and second-year Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young. After all, Mayfield was the 1st overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, but fell out of favor with the franchise that selected him, the Cleveland Browns, and didn't last beyond his rookie contract. It looked like Young was heading quickly down that same path, but the last month has proven that the 2023 1st overall pick still may have some untapped potential. 

“I thought Bryce played his balls off,” Mayfield said after the game, per Joseph Person of The Athletic. “Speaking from experience of the ups and downs of the league, see it through, come out on the other side and it makes you stronger in the end. So I’m proud of him. And obviously, knowing who he’s working with now is a big part of that with the positivity and confidence aspect of it. So he’ll be all right.”

Who Young is working with is Panthers head coach Dave Canales, who spent last season as Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator working with Baker Mayfield. Mayfield, in his first season with the Bucs last year, had the best campaign of his young career under Canales, but is on pace to one-up that performance this year.

Banged-up Baker Mayfield brushes off injury, leads Buccaneers comeback

After going down with what he thought in the moment was an achilles tear, it looked like Baker Mayfield — and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' — 2024 season was going down in flames in Carolina on Sunday afternoon. But Mayfield was able to return to the field and lead the Bucs to a 13-point 4th quarter comeback to send the game to overtime, where eventually, Mayfield led Tampa Bay on a five-play, 59-yard drive that ended with a game-winning field goal.

Following a disappointing four-game losing streak that extended from Week 7 to Week 10, the Buccaneers bounced back during a Week 11 bye and have won two games. Now, Tampa Bay is 6-6 and tied with the Atlanta Falcons atop the NFC South. Atlanta does have two wins over Tampa Bay already this season, so the Bucs will need to finish a full game ahead of the Falcons in the standings in order to clinch a fourth straight division title.