Baker Mayfield will not play in Week 6, keeping Jalon Daniels in line for his third straight start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers ruled Mayfield out on Friday after he did not practice before Sunday's game.
For readers looking up the Tampa Bay QB situation, the answer is simple for now: Mayfield is out, and Daniels is the quarterback again. Daniels already led the Buccaneers to a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5, and he now gets another chance against the Pittsburgh Steelers with Tampa Bay listed as a 2.5-point home underdog.
Mayfield’s absence traces back to Week 3, when he dislocated his thumb against the Minnesota Vikings. He was originally expected to be sidelined for at least three weeks, and that window has held through this week’s injury report. In three games this season, he completed 63.5 percent of his passes for 615 yards, two scores and two interceptions, while adding 11 carries for 65 yards and one score on the ground.
The wrinkle is that the door has not closed on a quick return. There was optimism that Mayfield could be back in Week 7, but that is still only a possibility, not a confirmation. Until he is cleared, the Buccaneers have to keep playing with Daniels, and that matters because Tampa Bay entered Week 6 at 1-4 and still faces a narrow path back into the NFC race.
That is the real story here: the Buccaneers have steadied one week at a time behind Daniels, but they are still waiting to find out whether their opening-week starter will actually be available when the next game arrives.
