Following a limp loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the franchise’s third loss in their last four games, the pressure is very much on head coach Todd Bowles, not least because he also has a surfeit of top talents out injured.
After defeating the San Francisco 49ers in early October, a victory that saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sitting pretty with a 5-1 record, things have taken something of a nosedive for the Raymond James Stadium team.
Defeats to the Detroit Lions, the New England Patriots, and the Buffalo Bills were followed by a 7-34 loss to the Rams, leading the Carolina Panthers to pull closer to Tampa at the top of the NFC South.
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During their defeat to the Rams, the Buccaneers lost the services of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who did not emerge for the second half and was seen with his arm in a sling afterwards. On that front, Bowles delivered an update as to how serious a problem the 30-year-old has.
“He hurt it earlier [in the game], said he was fine, he went back and then reaggravated it on the last play [of the first half],”
He was replaced by Teddy Bridgwater, the 33-year-old veteran.
“Very confident in what Teddy can do,”
“With a full week of practice, taking every snap, every play, we think he’ll be fine.”
On his rare runout, Bridgewater expanded.
“My mentor actually passed away and I went back home for his funeral, so I got here today about 10:30 this morning and had to play in the game,”
“I think it’s pretty cool. My lifestyle is more like a rock star, I guess. But it’s unfortunate that, you know, it came by way of injury.”
“You never want to see guys injured, especially your leader,”
“But Baker’s a tough guy, man. He tried to come back out there and tough it out for the guys. That says a lot about him, says a lot about this team.” Bridgewater added.
Next up for Tampa is a series of three games in a row at Raymond James Stadium, an opportune time for Bowles to get his side back into gear. In those games, Tampa takes on the Arizona Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints, and the Atlanta Falcons.
Those games are all against teams with a losing record, and Bowles knows his team can ill afford to put a foot wrong between now and the end of the regular season.
Todd Bowles has taken the Buccaneers to the playoffs in each of his three previous seasons and will be looking to repeat the feat, while also having an eye on a decent performance in the postseason.
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