Bucs List Qb Baker Mayfield As Full Participant, Wr Emeka Egbuka With Concussion After First Practice Of Week 7

On Wednesday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield practiced for the first time since dislocating the thumb on his throwing hand in a Week 3 loss to the Vikings. More specifically, Mayfield was a full participant, according to the team's injury report, which also revealed that wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is in the concussion protocol as the Buccaneers gear up for a Week 7 road game versus the Carolina Panthers.

Head coach Todd Bowles told reporters that Mayfield is "coming along fine."

"I think once he got warmed up, it started looking pretty good as practice went on," Bowles said. "So we'll continue to monitor and see how he goes through the week."

Later, Bowles was asked when he anticipates making the call on Mayfield playing against the Panthers on Sunday.

"I'll see what he looks like Friday, and I'll find out then," the fifth-year Bucs frontman said.

Mayfield wore a glove on his throwing hand throughout the entirety of Wednesday's practice, Bowles confirmed.

Bowles said Mayfield told him the glove felt fine and that he's played with it once before. The two-time Pro Bowler's return has hinged on his ability to properly grip the football following the injury he sustained on the follow-through of an interception he tossed against the Vikings.

At first, a three-week absence was expected, but then an ESPN report surfaced on Oct. 4 that suggested Mayfield could be sidelined up to six weeks. The three-week timeline reportedly was the best-case scenario for the Bucs. Now 1-5, Tampa Bay is fortunate that Mayfield's recovery might be unfolding that way.

Bowles explained, though, that the Bucs will have to take a wait-and-see approach to this week.

"We got to see how he comes out of it and, after a day, how the thumb responds," he said.

Both Mayfield and backup Jalon Daniels understand the game plan and are preparing, Bowles noted, when asked about splitting the reps between them.

Bowles also mentioned that it was encouraging to see Mayfield do the things the Tampa Bay staff wanted him to do on Wednesday.

Mayfield dealt with an array of injuries in the 2025 season, most notably one to his non-throwing shoulder in November.

He played banged up, suiting up for all 17 games of the Bucs' 8-9 campaign. A reporter inquired Wednesday about how Bowles and Co. will weigh sending Mayfield out there if he's not 100 percent healthy.

"I think it's a different injury," Bowles said. "This one's a thumb. You can kind of gauge it off how he throws and how he feels and how he takes snaps under center and how he feels afterwards. I think that's kind of a different deal than the shoulder and the bruises and all those things he's kind of added up to.

"This one you can see flat-out, and you can know whether you want to play him or not."

If Mayfield isn't ready to go for Sunday's game, Daniels will continue to start in his place. The undrafted rookie quarterbacked Tampa Bay to a "Thursday Night Football" win over the Dallas Cowboys in his second career start.

Daniels, who appeared in 49 games across six seasons at Kansas, has completed 61.2% of his passes over his first four outings with the Bucs. He has thrown for 501 yards, run for 126 more and posted a 3:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 1-2 record along the way.

He and Tampa Bay blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week and wound up losing in overtime.