After a collapse last week, and a bunch of injury news, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers also had to deal with Tom Brady clapping back at Baker Mayfield over a comment about the organization having fun.
Brady retired after the 2022 season, apparently leaving a need for an improved locker room atmosphere. New Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield said tightness caused an issue for the franchise, according to usatoday.com.
“The building was a little bit different with Tom in there,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment. So I think everybody was pretty stressed out. They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren’t having as much fun.”
Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield draws ire from Tom Brady

It’s unknown wehether Mayfield intended those comments as a swipe at Tom the GOAT. But Tom the GOAT took it that way. Brady fired back with the greatness of his first-season end result in Tampa Bay.
“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady chimed back. “So, there was a mindset of a champion that I took to work everyday. This wasn’t daycare. If I wanted to have fun, I was going to go to Disneyland with my kids.”
Oh, Tom. Still can’t have fun now that you’re confined to the broadcast booth? He added another zip against Mayfield, according to nbcnews.com.
Article Continues Below“There’s a way to approach this game,” Brady said. “There’s high expectations for us, we have to make sure we go out there and deliver.”
Brady then admitted he can’t let go of the competition.
“Still in there,” Brady said. “No apologies.”
Mayfield has been playing more like Brady than the old Mayfield this season. In three games he completed 74% of his passes, which is 10 points better than his career high. He racked up 637 yards and six touchdowns with just two interceptions in three games.
Things didn’t go as well against the Denver Broncos last week, prompting the Buccaneers' Mayfield to tell the AP his team needed to make adjustments.
“There are a few things that we need to look at the tape and get fixed,” Mayfield said via The AP. “This is a good lesson for our team overall. You have to prepare like you're playing in a playoff game every week, or this can happen. It's a good lesson for the young guys who haven't seen it before of what you need to be prepared for, how detailed we need to be.”