Bucs RB says Baker Mayfield knew Vikings' defensive signals
How did Baker Mayfield and the Bucs keep the Vikings defense on the field for two-thirds of the second half on Sunday? Mayfield apparently was able to understand the hand signals the Vikings were using to call plays. Bucs running back Rachaad White said Tuesday that Mayfield had figured it out by halftime.
“I just remember Bake came in the locker room, literally at halftime, he said, ‘I got it. We got all these signals,’” White said of Mayfield during an interview on Bucs Total Access.
“We’re in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover 2. If they do this, they’re going into Cover 3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they’re dropping back to this.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ ... I was just listening to him and we were listening to him and we just kind of understood.”
Mayfield did nothing illegal. He wasn't sign stealing. He was sign deciphering. That's a brilliant level of play and a pock mark on the first game under Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who if he's not paying attention is in danger of the same thing happening Thursday night against the Eagles.
Want to dig deeper into this? Mayfield was the quarterback at Oklahoma from 2015-2017. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts transferred from Alabama to Oklahoma in 2019. Is there any way possible that the two Heisman winners have a relationship and Mayfield has told Hurts about the signals?
That's a bit of a leap but it's obvious that Flores needs to change things up immediately.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.