It’s Baker Mayfield to start preseason Game 1 and Kyle Trask in preseason Game 2.
So said Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles on Wednesday as the Buccaneers prepare for their first season without Tom Brady and uncertainty at the quarterback position.
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Bowles said “not really” when asked if there was thought that went into the starter for Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That seems to mirror the Bucs’ depth chart released Tuesday that denotes Mayfield or Trask at QB1.
Trask will draw the start against the New York Jets on Aug. 19, and the team “will go from there,” Bowles said.
The word “or” shows how close the training camp competition is between the signal-callers vying to replace Brady, the retired seven-time Super Bowl champion.
Mayfield signed with Tampa Bay in March as the presumed starter after making three stops during a whirlwind 2022. After being traded from the Cleveland Browns to Carolina that offseason, he was 2-8 with 2,163 yards, 10 touchdown passes and eight interceptions with the Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.
Mayfield, 28, is 31-38 as a starter since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland in 2018.
Trask, 25, has only appeared in one game since Tampa Bay drafted him in the second round in 2021. Last week, offensive coordinator Dave Canales said Trask had closed the gap on Mayfield with his performance in camp.
–Field Level Media