The Green Bay Packers will not play against Baker Mayfield when they meet the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4. Mayfield is set to miss multiple games after dislocating his thumb during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
Instead, Green Bay will face Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie out of Kansas, who beat out Jake Browning to earn the backup job. You would think facing a quarterback who has yet to complete a pass in an NFL game sways things in the Packers’ favor. Just don’t tell that to safety and team captain Xavier McKinney.
“It really don’t matter. If we can’t do our jobs, all 11, it don’t matter who is at quarterback,” said McKinney on Monday. “Right now, everybody has to focus on doing their job, myself included.”
The truth
is, Green Bay can’t take any opponent lightly, regardless of who is under center.
In Week 1, they allowed backup Carson Wentz to throw for three touchdowns and help erase a double-digit second-half deficit to lead Minnesota to victory. In Week 2, the Packers trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter to a Jets team led by Geno Smith, who is now on his third team in three years.
Then, this past Thursday night, a sputtering Falcons team put up 35 points with a quarterback making his season debut. Michael Penix Jr. returned from a season-ending ACL injury to complete 72 percent of his passes for 256 yards and a touchdown.
Atlanta’s offense leaned on running back Bijan Robinson, who rushed for 194 yards, one yard shy of his career high, and two touchdowns, though Penix was also highly effective.
Tampa Bay doesn’t have a ball carrier of Robinson’s caliber, but what they do have is a reason to run the ball and a quarterback who isn’t afraid to scramble.
Daniels finished his college career with 1,445 yards on the ground and 23 rushing touchdowns. During the preseason, he totaled just 37 rushing yards in three appearances, but showed solid command of the Buccaneers offense, completing 27 of 44 passes for 239 yards, one passing touchdown, and no interceptions.
Green Bay needs a win on Sunday to avoid falling to 1-3. They will likely enter as the favorites, but that means very little when you haven’t had a clean win over an opponent in nearly a year.
McKinney’s teammates need to heed his words and come ready to play against a desperate Buccaneers team still searching for their first win.
This article originally appeared on Packers Wire: Packers S Xavier McKinney: 'It really don't matter' who is at QB for Bucs
