Sunday will only be Week 3 of the 2025 regular season, but it has been a long couple of weeks already for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs.

Tampa Bay has showcased its resiliency in recent years, overcoming midseason slumps to make the playoffs, but the team is being tested differently this time around. Recent injuries on both sides of the ball mean that right guard Cody Mauch and defensive tackle Calijah Kancey are out for the year, while right tackle Luke Goedeke will also be shelved for a couple of weeks.

What was arguably the team’s greatest strength is now mired in uncertainty as backups and new faces attempt to act as band-aids and plug holes on a beaten and battered ship trying to stay the course.

When discussing the challenges and adjustments that come with that on Wednesday, quarterback Baker Mayfield shared his confidence that the offense can live up to the standard of scoring points and being mentally strong through it all.

Baker Mayfield Still Believes Bucs’ Offense Can Be Explosive, Score Points

For those hoping to see the Bucs’ offense at full strength this season, that possibility will not come to fruition with the news of Cody Mauch being ruled out for the season with a knee injury. With Mauch out, Luke Goedeke dealing with a foot injury that will force him to miss time, and the status of Tristan Wirfs’ Week 3 availability being uncertain, that’s 3/5 of one of the NFL’s best offensive lines likely not playing this Sunday.

Bucs LT Graham Barton, LG Mike Jordan, C Ben Bredeson and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

For an already reshuffled offensive line facing even more issues, it makes a makeshift group even more in shambles. Despite this, Baker Mayfield does not believe the sky is falling. Instead, Mayfield trusts whoever is on the field can handle their own and do their job.

“The playbook is fully open,” Mayfield said despite all the injuries the team is dealing with. “When it comes to the game plan, when you’re taking your shots, different things like that, you’ve got to know who’s on the field for the defense and when you’re trying to time [things] up. By Sunday, whoever’s out there, they’ll be ready. That’s the big part about this offense – next man up, throwing them in there, really getting them ready for it, overcommunicating, being on the same page, and then just going [out and] playing ball from there.”

It is one thing to say this, but another to actually do it. Although the second half largely proved to be a struggle for the offense on Monday night before Mayfield orchestrated the game-winning drive, he does have a point. The run game still found plenty of success, rushing for 169 yards on 30 carries as Bucky Irving and Rachaad White found room to make things happen – not to mention some key quarterback scrambles extending drives.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

Even after losing some starters, the standard remains the same. As long as the gunslinger is in there and has weapons and time on the clock, the expectation is to put points up and support the defense.

“[We have] a ton of room to grow,” Mayfield said. “We haven’t played close to being good. We’ve had some good plays here and there. Obviously, we started fast, which was the emphasis, but they made some adjustments, and we needed to make adjustments midgame. We scored when we needed to. Wins, we’ll always take those, but offensively, we need to be more consistent. That’s the standard around here – we’ve got to be explosive, be able to score a lot of points, and consistency is the main thing.”

Josh Grizzard Is Being Forced To Adjust On The Fly And Adapt

None of what has transpired has been easy to come to terms with.

It is far from ideal to be without key offensive linemen and wide receivers at the start of the regular season. For offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard, he is in the thick of the flames as a first-time NFL playcaller having to adjust. The silver lining is that help will be on the way, as offensive tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke and wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. are all expected to return by midseason, with wide receiver Jalen McMillan not too far behind.

Right now, though, it is about finding ways to survive and work with what is available.

“That’s what good coordinators do,” Baker Mayfield said. “They’re able to adjust on the fly and adapt. Obviously, when you lose guys midgame, it’s not ideal, but for [Josh Grizzard] to do that, keep his cool, and call a great game is good for us. We just have to execute better.”

Bucs QBs coach Thad Lewis, OC Josh Grizzard and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

This has been a key theme for this offense in recent seasons. Since Mayfield arrived in 2023, he has seen his offensive coordinators come and go on to find head-coaching jobs elsewhere the following offseason. That has not changed his or the rest of the unit’s goals, and it appears to have made them hungrier and more determined.

“I think that goes from before I was even here,” Mayfield said. “The level of play, what’s expected of this offense, and from the guys that were here for the Super Bowl run [and] just the culture they had set in – it doesn’t matter who’s in there, we’re supposed to go out there and execute. When I stepped in here, it’s been the same. You have new faces and turnover every year, but when your veterans and your leaders that have been here their whole career are setting the standard every day, guys have to live up to it.”

Until reinforcements arrive on the front lines, Baker Mayfield will be leading the Bucs into battle against the Jets expecting to come out on top on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re always in the fight. Anytime we step on the field, we expect to win,” he said. “We expect to play well and do our job at a high level. It’s just the mentality.”