Report: Baker Mayfield dealing with knee contusion, expected to play through it

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) quarterback Baker Mayfield is currently dealing with a left knee contusion that has caused some discomfort, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

Mayfield underwent an MRI which came back clean. Mayfield played through the injury in the 24-18 Week 8 defeat to the Buffalo Bills (5-3) Thursday, and plans to do so moving forward. The 28-year-old has 10 days of rest before the Buccaneers take on the Houston Texans (3-3) in Week 9.

Mayfield, in his first season with Tampa Bay after signing a one-year deal with the team this offseason, has been a mixed bag through seven games. The 2018 No. 1 overall pick has thrown for 1,600 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions on 64.2% passing. His 57.0 QBR is the second-highest of his career.

As a complete unit, Tampa Bay’s offense has struggled as they did last season with Tom Brady under center. The Buccaneers rank 22nd in total offense, averaging 298.3 yards per game. Tampa Bay is scoring an average of 17.3 points per game, and continues to own one of the league’s worst rushing attacks.

Baker Mayfield’s Buccaneers in midst of losing skid

Now on a three-game losing streak after a 3-1 start, Mayfield knows there must be a sense of urgency to prevent the season from snowballing on them.

“Losing three in a row sucks,” Mayfield said after the loss to Buffalo, via the Tampa Bay Times. “There’s no way around that. … But we showed fight tonight. That’s the one thing we can hang our hats on. We gave it everything we had late there, but we’ve got to play better early on. You can’t hurt yourselves.”

The Buccaneers’ three wins have all come against teams with a below .500 record — the Minnesota Vikings (3-4), Chicago Bears (2-5) and New Orleans Saints (3-4). All four of their losses have come against teams over .500 — the Philadelphia Eagles (6-1), Detroit Lions (5-2), Atlanta Falcons (4-3) and Bills.

With a favorable schedule down the stretch, head coach Todd Bowles isn’t giving up on his team.

“My faith in these guys has never wavered,” Bowles said. “I’ll take them anywhere. I’ll take them down an alley… Fight with them any kind of way. I believe in them wholeheartedly. We believe in ourselves as a team. And we know we’ll push forward and get better.”