After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 28-23 home loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, quarterback Baker Mayfield publicly stated that he felt the Tampa Bay offense lacked a “killer instinct” at Raymond James Stadium.
Head coach Todd Bowles later agreed with Mayfield’s assessment. While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Tampa Bay rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was asked about Mayfield’s comments.
“We don’t have too many divas in this locker room who think they’re above the law or anything like that,” Egbuka said, per the Buccaneers’ website. “We know everyone has to do their one-eleventh, whoever is on the field. People took great accountability, came in [Wednesday], and had a focused, locked-in session. [We] just have to continue stacking days throughout the week to fix everything that we need to fix before Sunday’s kickoff.”
The Patriots seemed to have more energy, outscoring the Buccaneers 21-3 before the hosts tallied their second touchdown of the contest, cutting New England’s lead to 21-16. However, neither team managed to score throughout the fourth quarter before New England’s TreVeyon Henderson iced the game away with a lengthy touchdown run:
TREVEYON ICES IT
NEvsTB on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/9StEyeQPMR
— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2025
Mayfield clearly wasn’t pleased with the Buccaneers’ energy coming off their Week 9 bye. On Wednesday, he was asked why he felt the need to speak up after a loss to a club that improved to 8-2.
“There’s definitely a time and place for team speeches — whatever you want to call it — or calling people out, whatever it is. There is a time and place, and for us offensively, that wasn’t up to our standards,” Mayfield explained. “Our leaders have to be exceptional in those moments, and everybody else has to do their role, their job, whatever that is, at a very high level. That’s the NFL; it’s professional football. We expect people to do their job at a high level. Nobody is perfect, but when it’s things you’ve consistently seen on tape and we’ve executed, you expect them to do it well.”
The 6-3 Buccaneers will need to do their jobs “at a high level” when they play the Buffalo Bills (6-3) this Sunday. As of Thursday afternoon, ESPN BET had Tampa Bay as a 5.5-point road underdog.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got hit with a bit of bad news on Tuesday that they don’t receive very often.
Reserve running back Josh Williams has been suspended by the NFL for six games for a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy, per multiple outlets.
Bucs rookie running back Josh WIlliams has been suspended for six games without pay for violating the NFL’s Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy. He has played in three games this season, with four carries for 11 yards.
Todd Bowles was asked for his thoughts on his suspension after Tampa Bay’s practice on Wednesday, and he provided his plan to replace Williams on the depth chart.
“It’s unfortunate,” Bowles said. “You know, a lot of these guys have trainers, and probably don’t know what they’re taking or anything else like that. I don’t know what he did or didn’t, and I know the kid, and he’s a good young man. He’s a very honest young man and forthright. I wish him the best. Obviously, the next man up will be Owen [Wright]. Owen will probably come up, and then we’ll go from there and keep it moving.”
Williams played for LSU from 2019-2024 and was signed by the Bucs back in May as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NFL Draft. He made the 53-man roster as the team’s fourth running back and has appeared in three games this season (Seattle, New Orleans, and New England). He has totaled 11 rushing yards on 4 carries, all against the Saints.
Wright was with the Baltimore Ravens from 2023-24, where he appeared in one game. He joined the Bucs during training camp in 2025 but was among the cuts to get down to 53 players in August. He joined the team’s practice squad in October and was activated for Tampa Bay’s game against San Francisco.
Fortunately for Tampa Bay, their depth issues could get put on the back burner if their top running back can make a return soon. Irving was spotted at practice on Wednesday by the media in attendance. Although it was a walkthrough, it’s a step forward and progress as he works to get back into the fold for a Bucs offense that needs an element of explosion.
Bowles said that the Bucs won’t be in full pads this week, so Irving won’t be subjected to any full contact hits on the practice field on his injured shoulder. However, that’s obviously something he’s going to have to be able to handle without issue before he’s cleared to return.
For the time being, it looks like it’ll be Rachaad White, Sean Tucker, and Wright to lead the backfield on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.