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Just as the Bucs were taking the field at the AdventHealth Training Center for Friday’s training camp practice, news broke that starting quarterback Baker Mayfield will be held out due to a hand injury he suffered during Thursday’s practice.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the news, noting that it’s a hand contusion for Mayfield. It’s on the veteran quarterback’s throwing hand, but the good news for Tampa Bay is that precautionary scans ruled out a more significant injury and he will be day to day as a result.

Mayfield has been banged up from time to time over the course of his two seasons in Tampa, but he has yet to miss a game, playing and starting 34 out of a possible 34 regular season games while starting three playoff games as well.

In Mayfield’s absence from practice, it’ll be 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask filling in, with undrafted rookie Connor Bazelak getting reps behind him.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With his status being day to day, we’ll see if Mayfield is back on the field for Saturday’s practice. However, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see him held out again to give him some more time to heal the hand contusion as a precaution. The team doesn’t practice Sunday or Monday, so that would give him a good four days off to make sure he’s back to 100% when he returns to practice.

Mayfield has been off to a strong start in training camp, with the connection between him and Mike Evans looking as strong as ever. He has also proven to have a solid rapport with 2025 first-round pick Emeka Egbuka, who has shined throughout the first week-plus.

Without Baker Mayfield, Bucs Are Even More Short Handed At QB

With no Baker Mayfield at practice, the Bucs are even thinner at the quarterback position than they already were for the first week-plus of training camp. Kyle Trask and Connor Bazelak are the only two healthy quarterbacks at the moment, as Mayfield is day-to-day with the hand contusion while Michael Pratt has been out of action with a lower back injury since the spring.

While there shouldn’t be any long-term ramifications of how short handed the team is at the quarterback position, the potential need to add another arm for camp just got more significant. Head coach Todd Bowles said Sunday that they’ve already been talking about the possibility of adding another quarterback to the roster ahead of preseason action.

“We’ve talked about it. We may add one – we’ve been looking,” Bowles said. “We’ll see what happens, depending on who gets hurt and how much room we’ve got.”

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard and QBs Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask and Connor Bazalek – Photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

Baker Mayfield was unlikely to play much in the preseason as it was anyway, and with Pratt still sidelined, there was always a decent chance that Tampa Bay would want to add another quarterback so that it wouldn’t have to go through its three-game preseason slate with only two healthy arms in Trask and Bazelak.

We’ll hear more from Bowles after Friday’s practice regarding Mayfield’s status for Saturday and any upcoming practices, as well as the likelihood of bringing in another quarterback and if there’s a roster spot open for one.

Tampa Bay opens up preseason action next Saturday, Aug. 9, at home against the Tennessee Titans.