Baker Mayfield's absence appears to be nearing its end.
The Buccaneers quarterback said Thursday his injured thumb feels "strong enough to be able to play" in Tampa Bay's Week 7 game at Carolina.
"Feel good. Just improving," Mayfield said. "It's been a process for me. Never really missed time cause of injury. Not fun. You always want to be out there with the guys. ... It's been feeling slowly better and better. That's the frustrating part, it just takes time for an injury like that."
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles hasn't yet confirmed Mayfield will play against the Panthers, and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson told reporters they're prepared for Mayfield or backup Jalon Daniels to fill the job Sunday, but it seems as if Mayfield is trending toward being available. He was a full participant in practice for the second straight day on Thursday.
Mayfield revealed his initial goal was to return for Tampa Bay's Week 6 game against Pittsburgh -- a 26-19 overtime loss -- and pushed his limits in an attempt to play, but relented when he realized he likely wouldn't be the Buccaneers' best option behind center.
An undrafted rookie out of Kansas, Daniels won the backup job in preseason action, outplaying veteran Jake Browning and giving the Buccaneers a dynamic second option who posed a legitimate running threat to opposing defenses. He started in place of Mayfield in each of Tampa Bay's last three games, completing 60 of 95 passes for 501 yards and a 3-4 TD-INT ratio. His third start represented an improvement in performance and positioned the Buccaneers to pull off the upset over the Steelers until a nightmarish fourth quarter saw Daniels throw two interceptions, opening the door for a Pittsburgh comeback that culminated in an overtime triumph.
While encouraging, Mayfield's anticipated return doesn't represent a simple fix for the Buccaneers. Prior to his exit due to a dislocated thumb, Mayfield was mired in the most significant struggles of his career, completing 63.5% of his passes for 615 yards and a 2-2 TD-INT ratio while accounting for five total giveaways in three games. The nine-year veteran appeared uncomfortable and uncertain in Robinson's offense, bringing down the entire operation and leading to an 0-3 start in games in which Mayfield appeared.
Tampa Bay has since rebounded to upset the Cowboys for its first win of 2026 and nearly made it two straight before falling to Pittsburgh last week.
Mayfield has been adjusting to throwing while wearing a glove that includes reinforcement behind his thumb to prevent further damage. He's admitted the glove has changed how he grips the football, but downplayed any concerns regarding how it might affect his play.
"If there's impact, there's gonna be a pretty solid plate on the back of the glove that will prevent that," Mayfield said, assuaging injury aggravation concerns. "If there's an impact hard enough to do it again, it wouldn't matter if I had previously dislocated the joint anyway. It would happen. Anytime you dislocate something, there's gonna be ligament damage. It just didn't happen to be the ligaments and tendons that I needed surgery on. So, just giving it time to heal, doing as much as possible to come back stronger and work on that.
"And, yeah, it's football. If something like that happens, that's the nature of the game, unfortunately. But we've gotten it to a place where it's strong enough to be able to play."
We'll wait to see if Mayfield is given an injury designation at the end of the week, but it sure sounds as if he's trending toward playing. For the 1-5 Buccaneers, Mayfield's return can't come fast enough.
