Lavonte David Reveals Extent of Baker Mayfield's Injuries in 2025

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is notorious for his toughness. He's been known to play through many injuries during his college and NFL career, and that toughness is a big reason why he's become so beloved by Buccaneers fans and national pundits alike.

Mayfield began 2025 as a potential MVP candidate, leading the Bucs to a 6-2 record before the bye week. That all changed, though, when Mayfield's play dipped drastically and the Bucs lost seven of their last nine games to miss the playoffs entirely for the first time since 2019. Mayfield's deep ball accuracy was among the league's worst, and turnovers became a much more significant problem down the back stretch.

Mayfield showed up on the injury report quite frequently in 2025, though he always pushed through. Many have speculated about the extent of Mayfield's injuries and just how much it affected his play, and in a recent appearance on The Arena podcast, newly retired Buccaneers legend Lavonte David revealed just how much Mayfield was going through last season.

Baker Mayfield played through a lot of injuries in 2026

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws a pass against the Carolina Panthers in the first half | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

David was asked by media pundit Skip Bayless how much blame Mayfield deserved for Tampa Bay's collapse in 2026, and he confirmed that Mayfield played through a significant number of injuries last year.

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

Mayfield sat out for half the game against the Los Angeles Rams last year after falling on his non-throwing shoulder, but outside of that, he played through every injury. Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's showing in that second half last year likely went into his and the team's decision to keep playing, but it certainly affected the Bucs negatively down the stretch.

This isn't the first time Mayfield has played through injury. He did so in 2021 with the Cleveland Browns after a different injury to his non-throwing shoulder, and his resulting season ended up getting him shipped off to the Carolina Panthers and the Browns pursuing Deshaun Watson.

The Bucs did sign Jake Browning to be their backup quarterback this season, so hopefully, Mayfield won't feel the need to play injured when he doesn't need to — and hopefully for Tampa Bay, he doesn't get injured at all.

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