Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals face one of the NFC’s best teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, they began this season as one of the best and have since lost four out of their last five games, including three in a row.
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To make things worse, their starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, injured his left shoulder in the team’s disconcerting loss to the Rams last Sunday night. The first half was winding down as Mayfield dropped back to pass and heaved a Hail Mary that fell harmlessly to the turf as time expired. Both benches began the trek to the locker room, except for Mayfield, who was lying face down on the field.
He had help from the trainers to get him into the locker room and did not return in the second half. He had an MRI on Monday, which displayed that he suffered a sprained AC joint with no structural damage. The Bucs breathed a sigh of relief that the injury wasn’t as bad as it first appeared.
The big question then was, when would he return to the field? Would he suit up for the Cardinals contest?
This type of injury for Mayfield has occurred before. In 2021, while with the Cleveland Browns, he injured his non-throwing shoulder and then continued to play the remainder of the season until he was forced to step aside in the final game. The thought process then became, the Browns should have sat him, required a surgical procedure, then brought him back the following season.
Instead, Mayfield had a horrible year and found himself traded to the Carolina Panthers for a bag of footballs.
On Wednesday, Mayfield met with the media to discuss his injury and status.
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Q: How’s the pain level?
Mayfield: It’s there.
Q: Increasing? Decreasing?
Mayfield: Decreasing for sure. It’s pain tolerance and management at that point. See how it goes through the week, and see where it goes from there. Understanding that we have Teddy (Bridgewater) and I have been in this spot before, hurting the non-throwing shoulder. If it’s going to hinder how I play, then I probably won’t go. But, won’t know that until later in the week, getting practice reps and seeing how that goes.
Q: We saw you grab it after the touchdown pass. Clearly, it happened before that. When did it happen? How did it happen?
Mayfield: It came on one of the scramble runs up the middle. Kind of got hit on the right side. Exposed the left shoulder and got hit a little late. Just one of those getting hit at the right angle.
Q: How much can you lean on what happened in Cleveland in terms of how to manage this, because it’s a similar injury?
Mayfield: It’s very different. I had dislocated my shoulder completely and had a torn labrum, partial rotator cuff, and cracked the bone in the socket. So, it’s very different. Truly, it’s about pain tolerance management and being able to move...
