Buccaneers coach lists strengths, weaknesses of QB Baker Mayfield

Former NFL signal-caller and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis broke down the strengths and weaknesses possessed by starter Baker Mayfield five games into Mayfield's Tampa Bay tenure. 

"Mayfield’s biggest strength is he’s very smart," Lewis explained during an appearance on the Buccaneers' official radio network, per the JoeBucsFan website. "He understands the system. He has command of it. You know once he knows it very good, he’s going to execute it." 

Lewis made his comments after Mayfield completed 19-of-37 passes for 206 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in this past Sunday's 20-6 home loss to the Detroit Lions. The defeat dropped the Buccaneers to 3-2 on the season. Mayfield acknowledged shortly after that game that he and the offense "sucked" against the Lions. He'll look to bounce back during this coming Sunday's home contest versus the 3-3 Atlanta Falcons. 

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles previously noted that Mayfield is "a very smart football player" who sometimes puts himself at risk by taking unnecessary hits during games. Without directly saying so, Lewis suggested Mayfield's personality can sometimes be his biggest opponent. 

"The thing that I just have to continue to work on him is because of his grit and his excitement, just to get him not to go as fast," Lewis added about the 28-year-old. "Sometimes he goes super fast. And, you know, just to get him to be smooth and slow down a little bit because you can just twitch up. And smooth is fast, and not being herky-jerky. That’s when he gets in trouble; he’s a little herky-jerky. But when he’s smooth … I always just remind him, 'Hey, remember, smooth is fast.' When he’s smooth, he’s very unstoppable."

According to ESPN stats, Mayfield enters the weekend ranked eighth in the NFL among qualified players with a 62.0 adjusted QBR and 13th with a 91.3 passer rating on the season. Across Tampa Bay's first five games, he has tossed seven touchdown passes and three picks. 

As of late Friday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Buccaneers as 2.5-point favorites against Atlanta.