TAMPA – Lots of mind games. A tense environment where everyone was stressed.

That’s what Baker Mayfield was told about the Bucs during Tom Brady’s final season in Tampa Bay.

In the “Casa De Klub Podcast” released Monday, Mayfield showed a stark contrast between his personality and that of the quarterback who won seven Super Bowls in Tampa Bay last season and who succeeded him.

Mayfield, who at 29 is 18 years younger than Brady, knew he had big shoes to fill, but remained authentic and quickly won over his teammates and coaches with his personality and play.

“For me, it was the exact same answer I gave you guys when I came here,” Mayfield said after practice Wednesday. “I’m not going to try to follow in Tom’s footsteps. That’s not how I do things. Obviously, Tom did it his way and was incredibly successful at it. A lot of that, just being my authentic self, being the best version of myself, that’s what this place has allowed me to do. But any time you have more success than they did in 2022, you’re going to have more fun.”

Brady helped the Bucs win their 55th Super Bowl in the 2020 season, then lost to the Rams on a last-second field goal in an NFC Divisional playoff game in 2021. He retired, but resumed his career 40 days later.

Ahead of the 2022 season, head coach Bruce Arians resigned in March and Todd Bowles took over. Brady went through a public divorce and lost center Ryan Jensen for the season due to a knee injury sustained on the second day of training camp. He was placed on 10-day waivers by the club.

The Bucs started poorly at 3-5 but fought back to win the NFC South with an 8-9 record before being crushed by the Cowboys in a wild-card game.

“With Tom, the building was a little different,” Mayfield said on the podcast. “Obviously, Tom is different in terms of playing. He had everyone under pressure, there was a nervous atmosphere, so everyone was pretty stressed, I think.”

Mayfield even went so far as to claim that Brady would intentionally throw the football in the dirt if he didn’t like the play’s decision or didn’t trust his young receivers.

“You hear some stories about him not liking a particular play and not liking it all week and it still got called in the game, maybe it was an intentional miss or the ball was thrown at the feet of the running back or receiver,” Mayfield said on the podcast.

“There were a lot of mind games.”

Certainly, Brady quickly lost confidence in players who dropped passes, such as receiver Scotty Miller.

Bucs tackle Tristan Wirfs told the Tampa Bay Times in August that Mayfield was much more relatable to his young teammates.

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“We didn’t get to hang out with Tom,” Wirfs said. “We didn’t go out to dinner with him. That’s not an attack on him, Tom is just a celebrity and a superstar. Just being able to hang out with Baker outside of the facility and do things together was something we hadn’t had before, and we thought, ‘Oh my God, this is great. This is fun.'”

Nobody is having more fun than Mayfield, whose quarterback rating of 129.1 ranks second only to the Saints’ Derek Carr (142.4). Both have thrown five touchdowns and just one interception while leading their teams to a 2-0 start.

In fact, Mayfield’s 33 touchdown passes since the start of the 2023 season are the third-most in the NFL during that time period, behind Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Jordan Love of the Packers.

“This is what I wanted. This is the group I wanted,” he said Wednesday. “I took the chance to come here, understand the pieces that I had and the potential that this group could have. For me, there were a lot of low points last year, so it could have been even better. It’s never about the individual stats anyway, it’s just about finding ways to win. So far, it’s been great.”

Mayfield didn’t have his best game throwing the football last Sunday in Detroit. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 185 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran and scored a touchdown.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said Mayfield has established himself as a leader. He was rewarded with a three-year, $100 million contract. He and his wife, Emily, live in a house on Davis Islands and have a five-month-old daughter.

But the best thing Mayfield could have done was to do nothing. He just had to stay true to his personality.

“The biggest thing he did was not try to be Tom,” Bowles said Wednesday. “The biggest thing we did was not want him to be Tom, and the scheme has changed since Tom’s been here, the players have changed since Tom’s been here. Baker is his own guy.”

“I always say that no one will ever be Tom. You put your shoes on the shelf, buy a new pair and break them in. And Baker has come in and taken to the system well. The guys have rallied around him and he has a place he calls home. We trust him. He trusts us and he has fitted in very well.”

Jamel Dean added to the injury report

The Bucs defense is still without five injured players. Cornerback Jamel Dean (knee) was only able to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr., defensive tackle Calijah Kancey (calf), nose tackle Vita Vea (knee), defensive lineman William Gholston (knee) and cornerback Josh Hayes (ankle) were unable to practice. Defensive lineman Logan Hall (foot), receiver Kameron Johnson (ankle) and running back Rachaad White were also only able to practice on a limited basis.

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