Buccaneers

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield said his thumb feels good, and he’s excited to return to the field.

“Feel good, just improving,” Mayfield said, via PFT. “Never really missed time because of injury. So, not fun. You always want to be out there with your guys. But just doing the rehab process as much as possible each and every day and trying to recover as quick as possible. And take it one day at a time. So, it’s been feeling better and better. But that’s the frustrating part. It just takes time with an injury like that. But we’ve gotten it to a place where it’s strong enough to be able to play,But we’ve gotten it to a place where it’s strong enough to be able to play.”

Mayfield will play with a glove on his throwing hand, with protection under it to help stabilize it. He talked about the challenges that come with that.

“Truly, when you’re throwing with a glove, you’ve just got to get used to it,” Mayfield said. “Just changing your release points. Can’t grip it as hard because it’ll stick to the glove — different things like that. So, just getting a lot of reps, getting practice with it, getting used to it. So, it feels fine. But, training staff, equipment guys are doing an incredible job of — we went through all the scenarios, all the different things to possibly wear, and ended up being able to stick a pad on the backside of the thumb to prevent it from bending backward again. So, they’ve done an incredible job helping me out get to where I’m at and ready to practice and go.”

Panthers

Panthers fourth-round CB Will Lee III had six tackles and three pass breakups in their Week 6 win over the Eagles. Lee reflected on facing WR DeVonta Smith, saying he’s glad to compete against such a high-caliber player. 

“It was a great matchup. He’s a great receiver, Heisman winner, wide receiver one over there in Philly. And he’s a great guy to compete against,” Lee said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “That’s my big thing. I love competing. I don’t care who it is out there, I’m gonna go out there and give it my all.”

Panthers HC Dave Canales praised Lee for his performance against Philadelphia, but added that he could play “a little cleaner.” 

“Talk about Will Lee and the way that he was challenging their best receiver or whoever they put out in front. He got some penalties called on him, but he was in the mix, and he was right there at the top of coverage,” Canales said. “He could be a little cleaner with his hands, but I’m not going to back Will Lee off of playing that style of football. I thought that was excellent.”

Panthers S Nick Scott wants Lee to keep playing physically and executing his assignments. 

“You don’t want to take that away. It’s just part of the game. It’s competing. He’s aggressive. He makes plays on the ball. He plays tight coverage. And it happens,” Scott said. “But more importantly, we won the game, and he had a great day, in my opinion, just playing coverage and doing what he was asked, and being on his calls and making the right adjustments.”

Panthers

Panthers DL Tershawn Wharton made his season debut in Week 6 against the Eagles. He said he is healthy after a serious neck injury that required spinal fusion surgery.

“It was scary,” Wharton said, via the Panthers’ official website. “I kind of didn’t want to say anything about it because I just want to be out there, but I knew I had to. There are certain things that kind of go all the way through your body. So I felt it in different parts of my body, whether it was my hand or when I was doing things with my kids. Certain movements would make me feel it, so it was something that I was dealing with. This sport is — you’re going to get hurt in it. So I just approach it as that. Things happen, and every time I just come back, it’s a part of your story in this game. So just continuing to stay focused and knowing that I am the player I am regardless of the injuries and just finding a way to continue to challenge myself even with being in RTP.”

For a Panthers defense that’s been hit hard by injuries, it’s a welcome change to start bringing players back. Wharton immediately made his impact felt. 

“Turk is one of our best football players when he’s available, and so once he is ready and once he is in there, we’re going to deploy him the same way,” Panthers DC Ejiro Evero said. “A lot of the time, when you come back off of injury and off an extended time of not playing football, you can’t just resume your normal workload too. So there’s probably going to be an acclimation period for him as well, and a snap count, a pitch count, and all those things. But I mean, he’s a hell of a football player, and he’s certainly going to help us.”

• Panthers TE Feleipe Franks was fined $6,750 for unnecessary roughness; CB Will Lee was fined $6,377 for unsportsmanlike conduct; TE Tommy Tremble was fined $11,941 for unsportsmanlike conduct; and S Zakee Wheatley was fined $5,626 for unsportsmanlike conduct.