Lavonte David challenges Buccaneers after 'embarrassing performance' in 'SNF' loss to Rams

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to 6-5 on the season via a 34-7 "Sunday Night Football" loss to a 9-2 Los Angeles Rams side that may be the best overall team in the NFL ahead of Thanksgiving. 

Following the defeat, linebacker Lavonte David spoke with the JoeBucsFan website and shared that he addressed his defensive teammates inside the locker room shortly after the game wrapped up. 

Buccaneers must "look ourselves in the mirror" after blowout loss to Rams

"I’m going to tell you the good version," David said about his postgame comments. "I told them that we were embarrassed tonight. It was an embarrassing performance all around. We have to look ourselves in the mirror. It’s not about what type of team we want to be, but individually. Personally, what type of player do you want to be? We have a lot to play for. The name on the front of the jersey and the name on the back of the jersey. You’ve got to have purpose. [Sunday], we didn’t play with no purpose."

The Buccaneers seem to be in the middle of an in-season swoon for the third consecutive fall after they entered their Week 9 bye at 6-2. Unlike in the previous campaigns, however, a potential disaster struck Tampa Bay on Sunday evening when quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a sprain to his non-throwing shoulder. 

According to Sarah Barshop of ESPN, Mayfield will undergo an MRI on Monday. During the 2021 season, he played so poorly for the Cleveland Browns while dealing with an injury to that same shoulder that Cleveland acquired Deshaun Watson from the Houston Texans in March 2022. 

On Sunday, Mayfield hurt his shoulder early in the game and then reaggravated the injury on the final play of the first half when the Buccaneers were trailing 31-7. Backup Teddy Bridgewater took over and completed 8-of-15 passes for 62 yards in what was mostly a mop-up performance.

Teddy Bridgewater discusses possibly having to make starts for Buccaneers

As of early Monday morning, Bridgewater seemed to be on track to start Tampa Bay's home game versus the Arizona Cardinals (3-8) on Nov. 30. 

"I’m very confident, and if it’s my turn, it’s my number, I’ve just got to answer the bell," Bridgewater said about possibly serving as the Buccaneers' QB1, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. 

The trade deadline has already passed, so the Buccaneers won't be able to land an upgrade at the position in the event that Mayfield misses more than a couple of quarters of action. Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles understands that it's up to those currently on the club's roster to spark a season turnaround, beginning with the upcoming matchup versus Arizona. 

"We gotta fix our own problems," Bowles told the Buccaneers' official postgame show, according to JoeBucsFan. "Nobody’s going to save us." 

The Bucs began Monday tied with the 6-5 Carolina Panthers in the battle for the NFC South division title. Carolina plays at the San Francisco 49ers (7-4) on Monday night.