Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield remains on track to sit out Sunday’s home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers as he continues to recover from a dislocated right thumb.
Head coach Todd Bowles said Friday that Mayfield is now wearing a smaller splint. The team will check this week whether the veteran can grip a football, but the current plan is to start rookie Jalon Daniels against Pittsburgh.
“Coach Todd Bowles said that Baker Mayfield has a smaller splint on his dislocated thumb injury. They will see if he can grip a ball this week, but the plan is to go with Jalon Daniels vs. the Steelers,” Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud wrote.
Mayfield suffered the injury late in the fourth quarter of Tampa Bay’s 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 27. An MRI showed no fracture and no ligament or tendon damage. Bowles said the next day that the absence would last a minimum of three weeks and that surgery was not expected.
The quarterback has now missed two straight games. He had started 57 consecutive regular-season and postseason games for the Buccaneers before the injury.
Tampa Bay improved to 1-4 with a 24-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. The win ended a four-game losing streak in which every defeat came by one score.
Daniels, an undrafted free agent from Kansas, made his second career start and completed 19 of 25 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. That marked a 76 percent completion rate and a clean night after he threw two interceptions in a Week 4 loss to Green Bay.
The Buccaneers rushed for 241 yards as a team. Running back Bucky Irving carried 21 times for a career-high 165 yards and scored twice, once on a five-yard reception and once on a one-yard run. His 72-yard burst opened the second half and set up the go-ahead score.
“We played good complementary football in all three phases, starting, and that kind of spurred everything in the first half. Jalon did an excellent job of taking care of the football and the defense played well,” Bowles said after the game.
Daniels managed the offense without a turnover while the defense forced multiple takeaways. Tampa Bay controlled the ball for long stretches and limited Dallas to 50 rushing yards.
Mayfield’s availability for Week 6 still hinges on how well he can grip the ball during the coming practices. The smaller splint is a step forward, but the Buccaneers have not cleared him to throw.
Reports earlier in the week indicated the recovery window could stretch from three to six weeks depending on pain and grip strength. Stitches were removed earlier this week as Mayfield tried to accelerate the timeline.
The Steelers game is scheduled for Oct. 18 at Raymond James Stadium. If Mayfield cannot play, Daniels would make his third consecutive start.
Tampa Bay sits in last place in the NFC South. Carolina and Atlanta are both 2-2. A second straight win would give the Buccaneers their first back-to-back victories of the season.
Bowles has kept Mayfield on the active roster rather than placing him on injured reserve. That decision leaves open the possibility of a return as soon as the thumb allows him to handle snaps in practice.
