Baker Mayfield took extra pleasure in beating Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks

Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is just the right kind of petty.

The fun kind of petty.

After the Bucs beat the Jets on Sunday, following late-game nuttiness that prompted Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles to say “you gotta fucking be shitting me,” Mayfield had his own way of commemorating his third last-minute victory in three weks.

“I loved it,” Mayfield told reporters. “And also their D-coordinator was the one that cut me in Carolina.”

The defensive coordinator is Steve Wilks. He was the interim head coach with the Panthers in 2022, after the firing of Matt Rhule. And while Mayfield requested his release, Wilks had dropped him below P.J. Walker on the depth chart. Which, for a former No. 1 overall pick, arguably is worse than being released.

It’s edgy. And it’s authentic. Mayfield is a football player, not a cyborg. He’s man, not machine. He’s emotional and raw, not a cold, cliche factory. He doesn’t hide it. It fuels him.

He’s the perfect Tampa Bay chaser to Tom Brady, who has morphed in the public’s estimation over two decades from Rocky Balboa to Ivan Drago. And maybe Mayfield will eventually match what Brady did for the Bucs, by bringing a Super Bowl trophy to town.

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