Baker Mayfield’s stat line as a runner in Week 1 was nothing to write home about. He finished with 11 yards on eight carries in his first start as a Buccaneer, a 20–17 win on the road against the Vikings.
But if you watched the game in Minnesota, you knew. There was the sneak he converted on fourth-and-1 with eight minutes left, and the stiff arm he delivered to the chest of Vikings corner Byron Murphy Jr. to churn out five yards and ignite a drive that resulted in the game-winning points. Then there was the way Mayfield turned the corner of Danielle Hunter and buried his shoulder into linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. to pick up four yards on a third-and-3 with 2:52 to go.
I filed that away, mostly because what I thought I saw was the old Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma back out there. What was a statistical blip to most actually seemed pretty significant, symbolically at least, in that this was the chip-carrying, playmaking, fun-having kid again. And so three months later, with Mayfield on the phone after the Bucs got to 7–7 with a 34–20 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field, I figured I’d ask him about that.
