Lavonte David Reveals Baker Mayfield Played Through Multiple Injuries in 2025

Former Bucs LB Lavonte David claimed that quarterback Baker Mayfield played the 2025 season while carrying multiple injuries including a bad shoulder.

Lavonte David Reveals Baker Mayfield Played Through Multiple Injuries in 2025

Baker Mayfield (Image via IMAGO)

In Short
  • Baker Mayfield played through multiple injuries during the 2025 season, including shoulder, oblique, ankle, and knee issues.
  • The Buccaneers finished the season with an 8-9 record, missing the playoffs due to head-to-head tiebreakers against the Carolina Panthers.
  • Team owner Jay Glazer expressed confidence in Mayfield's performance, despite doubts about his future with the Buccaneers after the season.

Baker Mayfield‘s third year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got off to a solid start. Chris Godwin was not healthy enough to start games, and All-Pro wideout Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury in week three, forcing him to miss out on a chunk of the season.

This forced Mayfield to rely on rookies Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson for the yards. Still, the Buccaneers got off to a 6-2 start, with Mayfield leading the early race for the league MVP award.

All of a sudden, Mayfield experienced a dip in form, causing the Bucs to lose four straight games against the New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Detroit Lions.

To make matters worse, Mayfield badly injured his non-throwing arm. He turned the ball over and fumbled more frequently toward the end of the campaign. By the end of the year, Mayfield had thrown 11 picks and lost the ball three times on 11 fumbles.

With the playoffs on the line, the Bucs needed a winning record to squeeze into the remaining vacant wild-card spots. However, the Carolina Panthers sneaked in even though both teams had identical 8-9 records. The Panthers got the nod based on the head-to-head record.

2025 was linebacker Lavonte David’s 14th and final year with the Buccaneers and in the NFL. The Super Bowl winner had a front-row seat to witness the chaos erupt in Tampa Bay. Analysts blamed Mayfield for the Bucs misery, but David showed support for his former teammate. He claimed a bad shoulder wasn’t the only injury that bothered Mayfield throughout the year.

Man, Baker [Mayfield] was going through a lot, bro. Baker had a lot of injuries that you didn’t expect a quarterback to play through. He had the oblique injury, he had the shoulder injury, he had a lot of things. You know, ankle injury, knee injury.

Lavonte David said on the Arena Gridiron podcast

The shoulder injury occurred after Mayfield fell awkwardly during the Rams game. Teddy Bridgewater replaced him for the second half. That was the only time Mayfield missed game action. Other than that, he fought through all the injuries.

This is nothing new for Mayfield. Previously, he played through a shoulder issue in Cleveland. Then again, the Browns shipped him to the Panthers at the end of the season.

The Bucs signed Jake Browning earlier this year. Browning spent the last few seasons as Joe Burrow‘s backup in Cincinnati. He started three games in Burrow’s absence before the Bengals replaced him with Joe Flacco.

Will Baker Mayfield get a future contract extension from the Buccaneers?

Mayfield signed a three-year, $100 million deal with $50 million guaranteed ahead of the 2024 season. Only one year is left before the two-time Pro Bowler enters free agency, unless the Bucs agree to sign him to a new contract.

Lavonte David Reveals Baker Mayfield Played Through Multiple Injuries in 2025
Baker Mayfield (Image via IMAGO)

After the season he had, there’s doubt in the football community about whether the Bucs will be willing to stick with Mayfield or replace him after the 2026 season. During an exclusive interview with JoeBucs, owner Joel Glazer revealed that the higher-ups have complete faith in Baker.

[Baker’s] gone above and beyond anything we could have asked or hoped of Baker. Everybody loves him. He performs on the field, gives 250 percent when he’s on that field. And that’s all you can ask.

Joel Glazer said

Mayfield has played 51 games in three seasons for the Buccaneers. In those games, he has racked up 12,237 yards, 95 touchdowns, 37 interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.4.

Mayfield won’t have Evans to throw passes anymore. The future Hall of Famer opted to pursue a new challenge by signing with the San Francisco 49ers. Tampa Bay owns the 15th overall pick in the draft. They are expected to select Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.

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