Jets' Steve Wilks fires back at Bucs' Baker Mayfield over odd jab

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield generated headlines this past Sunday when he said his club's 29-27 Week 3 win over the New York Jets was personal for him because current Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks "was the one who cut me" when Mayfield was with the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 season. 

While speaking with reporters on Friday, Wilks offered quite a response to Mayfield. 

Steve Wilks snipes back at Baker Mayfield jab

"I don't know how long you've been doing this," Wilks said to a reporter regarding Mayfield's comment, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. "But I'm sure you're quite educated on it. I don't really think an interim coach has that much authority over personnel. If that's the case, I would've never gotten rid of our best player, (running back) Christian McCaffrey."

Wilks replaced fired head coach Matt Rhule on Oct. 10, 2022, after the Panthers fell to 1-4 that season. Carolina was then accused of "tanking" when the club traded McCaffrey 10 days after Wilks took over as interim coach. 

While Wilks may not have been responsible for who was and wasn't on the Panthers roster around Halloween that year, he was the coach who decided to roll with P.J. Walker after Mayfield went down with a left ankle sprain. In the end, Mayfield was eventually demoted to third on the Carolina depth chart before the two sides agreed to part ways on Dec. 5, 2022. 

Mayfield has since found a long-term home in Tampa Bay. Against the Jets, he completed 19-of-29 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown. He also picked up 44 yards on four carries, and he engineered a late seven-play, 48-yard drive that ended with Chase McLaughlin kicking a walk-off field goal.

Steve Wilks shows Baker Mayfield some love

On Friday, Wilks acknowledged that he has "a lot of respect for" Mayfield.

"(He's a) tremendous football player, and he's doing a hell of a job with those guys down there," Wilks added about Tampa Bay's QB1. 

Wilks and Co. have more important things to worry about heading into the weekend. As of Friday afternoon, ESPN BET had the 0-3 Jets as 2.5-point underdogs for this coming Monday night's game at the 0-3 Miami Dolphins.