The Buccaneers accomplished one of their biggest goals of the preseason by getting to Week 1 without exposing most of their key players to unnecessary snaps. Whether they got enough work to be ready for the regular season is a different question. Todd Bowles took a cautious approach throughout August, sitting most of his starters against the Jets before giving them limited work against Kansas City. They were back on the sideline for the preseason finale against Jacksonville.
For Baker Mayfield, that meant just two drives and four pass attempts during the entire preseason. Mayfield completed two of four passes for 10 yards against Kansas City, with Tampa Bay gaining just nine net yards and one first down during his two possessions. Bucky Irving
notched 14 yards on three carries, but the first team offense never found much of a rhythm and failed to score before Mayfield's night ended. The limited production was easy to explain. Tristan Wirfs wasn't playing, Tampa Bay was without nearly all of their starting receivers, and the offense wasn't going to show much of Zac Robinson's scheme in a preseason game. Still, it was the only opportunity to see Mayfield and most of the starting offense against another team before the games begin to count.
With a strictly backup approach, Tampa Bay closed August with an ugly 19-0 loss to Jacksonville. The Bucs managed only 120 total yards, six first downs and 1.9 yards per play. They went 2-for-12 on third down and punted 10 times. Bowles acknowledged afterward that the offense simply wasn't good enough. Mayfield hasn't played meaningful football since last season, and this was his first preseason action in two years. The Bucs are also adjusting to Robinson's offense, which makes the lack of live repetitions together more noticeable. Some also argue Bowles made the right decision. Tampa Bay has dealt with enough injuries over the past year to understand the importance of entering the season healthy. Training camp and joint practices provide competitive work without subjecting starters to "practice" games. If Tampa Bay's offense looks sharp immediately, nobody will care that Mayfield threw four passes in August. But if the Bucs open the season with stalled drives, their limited preseason work will stir quite the conversation about Bowles' preparation after a disastrous end to last season.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Could Buccaneers' decision to sit starters come back to haunt them?
