CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The last-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in need of a spark.
Baker Mayfield would seem to be just the right guy to provide it when he makes his anticipated return to the field Sunday against division rival Carolina.
Mayfield missed the past three games with a dislocated right thumb, but returned to practice this week wearing a protective white glove designed to add support to the area. He said Thursday the thumb has “gotten to a place where it’s strong enough to be able to play.”
“It feels fine gripping it and throwing it,” Mayfield said. “It’s just the impact stuff. That was my concern. But it’s been great so far.”
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said a day earlier that Mayfield was trending in the right direction and that he was encouraged to see his quarterback “do the things we wanted him to do.”
Panthers coach Dave Canales is familiar with Mayfield’s toughness, and certainly knows how important he is to the Buccaneers (1-5).
Canales served as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator and play-caller in 2023 and is credited with helping revive Mayfield’s career. Mayfield threw for 4,044 yards that season with 28 touchdown passes as the Bucs won the NFC South.
“This is a guy that’s going to try to fight through things, going to try to get back out there and help his team,” Canales said. ”He’s a great teammate. He’s tough, so I expect to see him out there.”
That’s normally not a good thing for Carolina.
Mayfield has dominated the Panthers in the past. He’s 6-1 against his former team as a starter, with five of those wins coming since signing with the Buccaneers.
Panthers’ Bryce Young to make 50th start
The Buccaneers won four straight NFC South titles from 2021-24, but have struggled since in losing 12 of their past 15 games.
Carolina (3-2), which dethroned Tampa Bay as division champions last season despite a losing record, seems to be trending in the opposition direction behind a steadily improving Bryce Young at quarterback. He leads the NFL in yards passing per game.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, is now in his fourth season with Carolina and his third in the same offensive system.
Sunday will mark his 50th start, and Young seems to be getting more confident with each passing week. After starting with a 4-21 record as a starter, Young is 13-11 since.
“There is a level of comfort that I feel from him,” Canales said. “It’s kind of twofold really: It’s the growth in our system and this system becoming Bryce’s. And then it is time on task. It’s just racking up these starts.”
Need to know
Tampa Bay (1-5) at Carolina (3-2).
When/where to watch: Sunday, 1 p.m., EDT, FOX.
Latest odds: Panthers by 3 1/2.
Against the spread: Buccaneers 1-5, Panthers 3-2.
Last week: Buccaneers lost to Steelers 26-19; Panthers beat Eagles 25-14.
Last meeting: Buccaneers beat Panthers 16-13 on Jan. 3 in Tampa, Fla.
Series record: Panthers lead 26-25.
Matchup to watch
Panthers QB Bryce Young vs. Buccaneers defense. Young is just 1-5 as a starter against the Bucs, but he looks like a completely different passer in his fourth season. He’s fifth in touchdown passes per game (2.2) and his 15 pass completions of 25 yards or longer are third most in the league. He’ll face a Tampa Bay defense that is No. 4 in the league in yards allowed but 20th against the pass.
The Bucs held Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers in check last week for most of the game, but allowed three long third down conversions in the fourth quarter and overtime and allowed the game to slip away.
Stats and stuff
— The Buccaneers have won five of the past six meetings and eight of the past 10.
— Tampa Bay RB Bucky Irving is tough to bring down. He ranks fourth in the league in highest percentage of missed tackles forced at 29.1% since coming into the league in 2024, which ranks behind only Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker (34.9%), Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (30.8%) and Detroit Jahmyr Gibbs (29.3%).
— Bucs DT A’Shawn Robinson is in his first season with Tampa Bay after spending the past two with Carolina. Robinson played in 32 games for the Panthers in that span and contributed 145 tackles and eight sacks.
— Tampa Bay’s defense has finished in the top five in the league in rushing in six of the past seven seasons and it hasn’t dropped off. Behind nose tackle Vita Vea, the Bucs rank second in the league in run defense in allowing just 75.5 yards per game.
— Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka (concussion) and Chris Godwin Jr. (rest) did not practice on Thursday
— Carolina’s 146 points and 17 touchdowns are the most in franchise history through five games. The Panthers have also have their second-most passing yards (1,478) and total yards (2,022) through five games since coming into the league in 1995.
— Five different players — wide receivers Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan, running back Chuba Hubbard, and tight ends Tommy Tremble and TE Darren Waller — all have two-touchdown games this season.
— Young will look to become the first Carolina player in team history to throw for at least 250 yards and one touchdown pass in nine straight games (including the postseason).
— Panthers OLB Jaelan Phillips (hamstring) has been ruled out for Carolina.
— At halftime the Panthers will honor former linebacker Luke Kuechly, who was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026 in August. He will receive his ring from the Hall of Fame.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.
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See AP’s full NFL coverage here
Steve Reed, The Associated Press