The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unofficially kicked off their quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask on Tuesday. Tampa Bay opened up its OTAs schedule on the day, and both Mayfield and Trask have since spent plenty of time building early chemistry with the team’s array of weapons on the offensive side of the ball.
Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin has been working with both Mayfield and Trask this week. Godwin had not shared the field with Mayfield before, and while he caught passes from Trask in OTAs over the past two years, this has not occurred in a regular season game.
Godwin sees that it has been “like a friendly competition” between Mayfield and Trask over the early stages of Tampa Bay’s OTAs.
“Honestly, it's just different,” Godwin said during a press conference at the Buccaneers' OTAs. “Any time you have a new quarterback, it's different. Obviously, we don't know who that guy is going to be yet, but it doesn't feel weird — it just feels like you're getting reps with a bunch of guys. … I think Kyle and Baker have both done a great job so far — it's like a friendly competition, there's no animosity.
“You see them helping each other — they talk through a bunch of things. I think we have a really good environment on our team right now. We're all really just trying to pull the rope in the same direction.”
Godwin will feature under Dave Canales in the 2023 season. The Buccaneers hired Canales in February to fill their offensive coordinator vacancy after they parted ways with Byron Leftwich.
The one-time Pro Bowler believes that it has been so far, so good for Canales with the Buccaneers.
“I like him, I really do,” Godwin said. “I think the first thing that really comes to mind is he's a very smart guy. You can tell that he, one, really loves ball, but he really knows what he wants to do in terms of installing the offense and attacking defenses. … He's a teacher, and he wants to effectively communicate that. It's been working so far.
“We had a really good first day, and guys are flying around — the intensity is high.”
The Buccaneers’ OTAs schedule will continue on May 30.
Follow Us
Subscribe