Inside The Vikings

Baker Mayfield Apparently Picked Up Vikings' Defensive Signals on Sunday

Rachaad White said in an interview that Mayfield learned the Vikings' signals by halftime.
Will Ragatz|
Baker Mayfield Apparently Picked Up Vikings' Defensive Signals on Sunday
Baker Mayfield Apparently Picked Up Vikings' Defensive Signals on Sunday

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Minnesota Vikings

Buccaneers running back Rachaad White said in an interview this week that QB Baker Mayfield picked up the Vikings' defensive signals in Sunday's upset win for Tampa Bay.

“I just remember Bake came in the locker room at halftime, he said, ‘I got it, we got all these signals,'" White said on the Buccaneers Radio Network. "We in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover 2. If they do this, they’re going Cover 3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they're dropping back to this.' I’m like, 'Wow, that’s amazing,' because I know certain coverages but I don't know a lot like that. I was just listening to him and we just kind of understood."

The Buccaneers' offense was mostly stifled in the first half, averaging 3.3 yards per play while putting together just one sustained drive on seven attempts. After the break, they averaged 3.9 yards per play (excluding three kneel-downs to end the game) but were able to sustain three lengthy drives and dominate time of possession. 12 of Tampa Bay's 16 first downs in the game came in the second half.

"I’m a Texas Rangers fan, not a Houston Astros fan," Mayfield said slyly on Wednesday when asked about White's quote.

It's unclear how big of a deal this actually is. The Vikings didn't play particularly well on defense in the second half of Sunday's loss, but they only allowed 150 yards and ten points and were close to getting off the field for key stops on multiple occasions. Former Vikings practice squad QB Kyle Sloter tweeted that his teams knew the defensive signals in "90 percent of the games I was a part of," adding that this Mayfield story "isn't news."

Brian Flores and the Vikings' defense may want to make some modifications to their signals ahead of Thursday night's game against the Eagles. More importantly, their focus will be on executing their game plan against Jalen Hurts and company as well as they can.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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