How Baker Mayfield Looked Throwing at Buccaneers Practice Today

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have played backup quarterback Jalon Daniels for the last three weeks. They've been without incumbent starter Baker Mayfield since he dislocated his thumb against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 3, but they likely won't be without him for much longer.

Mayfield returned to practice on Wednesday, marking his first one since Sept. 25. He arrived after the team stretched and started doing drills with the other quarterbacks — but how did he look in his first practice back?

BucsGameday was live at One Buccaneer Place to watch practice. Here's what we saw during our limited window:

Baker Mayfield Throwing Well at Bucs Practice

Mayfield participated in practice with a white glove on his throwing hand. He did handoff drills first, opting to hand off with his left hand as opposed to his injured right hand, but he quickly started throwing during the latter half of the practice window.

There did not seem to be anything noticeably off about the way Mayfield threw the football. He was working with wideouts and tight ends like Chris Godwin and Bauer Sharp during this throwing period, and he didn't appear to struggle with accuracy or velocity during the practice window.

Mayfield also participated in ball security drills while holding the ball during practice. Mayfield has already struggled with that so far this season, fumbling the football three times in Week 1, but his injured hand could make it even more difficult to hold the football if he does end up playing on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

It's unclear if Mayfield will go on Sunday, but if he can, the Bucs will really want him to. Tampa Bay is playing the Panthers, who lead the division at the moment with a 3-2 record. Tampa Bay is 2.5 games back from Carolina — a win keeps the Bucs alive in the division and a playoff berth, while a loss would put them 3.5 games out from Carolina and see them fading fast.

The Bucs have not determined who is starting yet against the Panthers. That should become clearer on Thursday, when either Mayfield or Daniels will speak to the media ahead of Sunday's NFC South matchup.

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