Baker Mayfield narrowly avoids injury, uses legs to survive Saints Baker Mayfield was scared. After flipping a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Otton in the first half, he was bent backward by Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata. With his legs trapped underneath him, he was hit late by defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd. "It was pretty scary, to be honest with you," Mayfield said after throwing three touchdowns in the Bucs' 26-9 win over the Saints. "Just getting pinned down was a scary moment and then the late hit on top of that. Luckily it wasn't worse than it was. Cade presented a good little checkdown right there for me and he was able to make a play after that." Fortunately, Mayfield avoided a serious injury to his legs and he used them to escape pressure all day from the Saints defense. Mayfield extended several plays, including his 5-yard touchdown strike to Deven Thompkins in the fourth quarter. He also rushed eight times for 31 yards. "Baker is a dawg," left tackle Tristan Wirfs said. "We know we can't have a clock with him. He's always going to do everything he can to keep the play alive and fight for yards. It's great having him back there. He's an incredible teammate. I love him. He balled out today." Mayfield finished 25 of 32 passing for 246 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 116.9. "He's tough. He made some throws," coach Todd Bowles said of Mayfield. "Long ones and short ones. He made some throws, he stayed away from sacks for the most part. He almost gave away (another) pick but it became incomplete so we didn't count that one. He played a heck of a ballgame. Bake is tough. He fits in here. He understands the offense very well. The guys love to play for him and he works for us." Bowles admitted he was a little scared watching his quarterback get hit in an awkward position. "You're always concerned when your quarterback gets hit," Bowles said. "But he's tough. He got up and fought it out. We have two weeks. Hopefully he can heal up and a lot of other guys, too." Chris Godwin, who had a season-high eight catches for 114 yards, credited Mayfield for his leadership. "He's a fighter. A ton of resilience," Godwin said. "He's been a great fit for us. You see him make some plays for us scrambling. He takes some tough shots for us and pops back up. He's a leader. I think he loves ball. I think that kind of permeates through the team. It makes the offensive line block more, it makes us want to run our routes a little harder and give him a chance." , The Tampa Bay Times, published 2 October 2023