Baker Mayfield Played Through a Torn MCL and PCL Since Week 2. Netflix Just Showed the Full Toll.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 8-9 last season, and Baker Mayfield got blamed for a lot of it. Inaccurate throws. Weird decisions. A few games where he just looked off. Turns out, the guy was basically held together by tape and stubbornness since September.

On the latest season of Netflix’s “Quarterback,” Mayfield revealed he played with a sprained MCL and PCL in his knee starting all the way back in Week 2. That alone would sideline most players. But he kept going. Then came a biceps contusion so bad it killed his throwing velocity. Then a left shoulder injury against the Rams. And those were just the ones he talked about on camera.

The injuries nobody saw coming

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times posted the details on X after watching the show: Mayfield dealt with that knee issue for 15 games, plus the biceps bruise that clearly affected his arm strength. The shoulder thing against L.A. was just another layer. Stroud gave him credit for toughness but noted it definitely hurt his performance.

Teammate Lavonte David, who retired this offseason, spelled it out even more bluntly on a podcast. He said Mayfield was dealing with injuries the public had no idea about — oblique issues, shoulder problems, an ankle, a knee. David said he didn’t expect any quarterback to play through what Mayfield was carrying.

And the stats sort of back it up. Mayfield threw for 3,693 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 picks. Not terrible numbers. But the consistency wasn’t there. Some weeks he looked like the guy who took the Browns to the playoffs. Other weeks he looked like he could barely get the ball downfield.

The Bucs are still in contract talks with Mayfield. They have to decide if 2024 was an outlier because of health or if this is just who he is now. The team has not confirmed any of the specific injury timelines from the show, but Mayfield didn’t deny anything when asked about it at his locker.

It’s not exactly a new thing for quarterbacks to hide injuries. Guys play through broken ribs and torn ligaments all the time. But seeing it laid out week by week on Netflix makes it feel different. The knee injury alone would be a season-ender for most people. Mayfield just went out there and took hits on it for four months.

Whether the Bucs bring him back or not, at least the tape exists now showing exactly what he was working with. That doesn’t fix the 8-9 record. But it explains a few things.