Are Bucs rolling the dice with Trask behind Mayfield?
Kyle Trask is the master of the mental rep. The career understudy. A sideline savant.
Entering his fourth NFL season, he has started zero of 51 regular season games, appearing in just three (simply taking a knee in one). He has thrown only 10 career passes, completing three.
The former Gators star was No. 3 on the depth chart behind Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert from 2021-22. Last year, he lost a competition for the starting job to Baker Mayfield during training camp.
Trask entered Saturday’s preseason opener at Cincinnati “ahead by a little bit” of John Wolford in the battle for the No. 2 job, said head coach Todd Bowles, who added,
“we’ve got to play some games.”
This is the time of year Mr. August can shine.
“It’s pretty much what I’ve been doing my whole life at this point, like, throughout my whole career, so I just keep preparing like I’ve always prepared,” Trask said Wednesday. “… But at the same time, still supporting those around me and doing everything I can to contribute with the role that I currently have.”
But Bowles has declared the Buccaneers a championship contender, telling his players the first day of training camp that their only expectations “have got to be the Super Bowl.”
What if Mayfield were to become injured and forced to miss a game? It’s fair to wonder: Will Trask be able to hold the rope?
The truth is, nobody knows for sure. But not many Super Bowl contenders are starting the season with a backup quarterback who has never really played.
Wolford appeared in seven games with the Rams between 2020-22, starting four and posting a 2-2 record. He’s even appeared in a playoff game. But at
28, he spent last season on the Bucs’ practice squad.
When you look at most of the Super Bowl contenders, they have a backup who at least has played. In many cases, that player is a one-time starter or top draft pick.
The Rams have Jimmy Garoppolo behind Matthew Stafford. The Eagles No. 2 is Kenny Pickett. The 49ers’ backup is Josh Dobbs. Taylor Heinicke and Michael Penix will back up Falcons starter Kirk Cousins .If Dak Prescott goes down, the Cowboys can turn to Cooper Rush or Trey Lance.
How much consideration did the Bucs give to signing
a more experienced quarterback behind Mayfield?
“Not much, because we like Kyle” Bowles said. “He’s done some very good things. He just has to play, I think. He’s very poised. I think he’s a very good quarterback, and given an opportunity I think we have full confidence in him because he plays like that and he plays older. He understands the system.
“Kyle is a good player. He just came in and, you
know, Tom was here and then Baker beat him out. He just needs opportunity. It doesn’t mean we think less of him.”
To be fair, the Bucs could not have done much more to stunt Trask’s growth as a quarterback.
While he had the advantage of watching a living legend like Brady prepare for games for two seasons, this is the third offense Trask has had to learn in as many years.
He’s gone from Byron Leftwich to Dave Canales and now Liam Coen.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal, from a quarterback standpoint, to switch offenses frequently, but it happens to a lot of people,” Trask said. “… I understand that it’s kind of part of the NFL.” — TAMPA BAY TIMES
ELSEWHERE
Chiefs: Kansas City ● wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was discharged from a Jacksonville-area hospital Sunday morning, hours after he sustained a dislocation of his sternoclavicular shoulder joint in his team’s 26-13 preseason loss to the Jaguars. Brown, who was cleared to return to Kansas City, was injured on the Chiefs’ first offensive play of the game. He made the catch for 11 yards.
Brown signed with Kansas City in the offseason as a free agent. He received a one-year, $7 million deal.
Brown, 27, had 51 receptions for 574 yards and four touchdowns last season in 14 games for the Arizona Cardinals.
— FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Eagles: Philadelphia
● signed safety Caden Sterns to a contract on Sunday. The team did not release contract details.
Sterns will rejoin Vic Fangio, who was the head coach of the Denver Broncos when the team selected him in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Sterns, 24, totaled 28 tackles, two interceptions and two sacks in 15 games (two starts) in 2021. He has been limited to six games (three starts) over the past two seasons due to injury, including tearing a patellar tendon in the season opener in 2023.