08 August 2023 , 11:30
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The race to replace legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has got tighter over training camp with 2018 first overall draft pick Baker Mayfield facing a significant competition with Kyle Trask.
Brady, 46, retired for the second, and last time, earlier this year, leaving an open spot in Tampa. And Mayfield, 28, whose NFL career hasn't panned out how expected, now finds himself in a position where he could revive his football career, finally showing why the Cleveland Browns bet big on him five years ago.
Despite having significantly more game experience over his Buccaneers quarterback rival Trask, 25, the race for a starting spot ahead of the 2023 NFL season has tightened. And to make matters worse for Mayfield, he didn't have the best of recent practice sessions, self-admittedly.
Trask, on the other hand, has been given praise by head coach Todd Bowles. "Their number one responsibility is don’t turn the ball over," he said. "And [Trask] has been doing a good job of not turning it over.”
Trask is up for the fight and says his focus is on getting the best out of Tampa Bay's offense. "I’ve been in a lot of quarterback competitions in my football career and I think the main thing you can focus on is just playing the best that you can,” Trask said, via the team’s website.
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“There’s a lot of things that are out of your hands, in terms of the competition. It’s the same for me: stay focused on what I can do. I know it’s obviously cliché but it’s the truth — I’m just focused on getting our offense in the best play, the best checks that I possibly can.”
Baker Mayfield has admitted to being poor in some practice sessions (Getty)The Buccaneers will be in action on Friday night when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a pre-season game at the Raymond James Stadium. "It’s another brick in this competition if you will,” Trask said. “There’s nothing I can focus on other than just going out there and trying to run the play the best that I possibly can and play clean football and just go out there and have fun.”
Mayfield maintains that competition at quarterback will ultimately benefit the 2021 Super Bowl winners. "It’s great for everybody, to be honest with you,” Mayfield said this past week.
“When the quarterback room is having success, it shows what this offense can be capable of. We’re distributors within this system – just getting the ball out, it’s not like we’re trying to hone in on one guy. Yeah, there will be specific plays where we want to get a guy open, but for right now it’s taking what the defense gives you.
“The past few days, yeah, Kyle [Trask] and John [Wolford] have had great practices of just doing that – going through the system, getting the ball out and making the reads. I think people are starting to see what we’re going to be capable of, and obviously, as we get used to pads more and more, the run game will get going as well. It’s just slowly coming together.”