Buccaneers' QB Sums up Feelings on Stefanski in 3 Words

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield doesn't like Kevin Stefanski.

He made that known this winter, with a viral tweet explaining how he felt about his Cleveland Browns' HC, who is now in charge of the Atlanta Falcons.

Now, for just the second time in his career, Mayfield will be taking on his old head coach.

The first meeting took place in 2022, with Mayfield making his first NFL start as a member of another team. But Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers fell to Cleveland, 26-24, at home in Week 1, and Mayfield didn't even last the full season with the Panthers.

Since then, both Mayfield and Stefanski have had their ups and downs. Mayfield has led the Buccaneers to the playoffs twice and earned himself a hefty contract extension.

Stefanski has been named NFL Coach of the Year and gotten fired.

Sunday's Bucs-Falcons matchup would be intriguing without the Mayfield-Stefanski backstory.

Both teams are longtime rivals, and although they have losing records (Atlanta is 3-4, the Bucs 3-5), nobody in the NFC South has a winning record, so the division is really up for grabs.

But the Mayfield-Stefanski story does add a layer of spice to the matchup, and as much as people would have liked one of them to say something spicy, it didn't really happen during the week.

Well, what Mayfield said was kinda interesting.

During a press conference Wednesday, Mayfield was asked if he had talked to Stefanski since that Twitter rant and if how things ended in Cleveland still ate at him. Mayfield's response was three words.

"Nah, I'm good."

Stefanski took the high road, choosing to focus on the challenges Mayfield presents to Atlanta's defense.

"He's still a playmaker," Stefanski said. "No play is ever over. He's just going to constantly make plays down the field. He can run. He's extremely talented."

All of that is true, although Mayfield hasn't gotten a chance to show it in a while.

In one of the more bizarre games in Bucs history, Tampa pounded the Carolina Panthers 43-13 last week on the road, with Mayfield only attempting 11 passes and throwing for 64 yards.

Before that, Mayfield hadn't played in almost a month, suffering a dislocated thumb Sept. 27 against the Minnesota Vikings, which led to him missing three games.

So far, Mayfield's 2026 has been mixed. He's thrown for 679 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, completing 63.6% of his passes.

Atlanta's had its own quarterback problems, mainly due to injury. But starter Michael Penix Jr. is back, and with the Falcons coming off an upset win over the previously unbeaten San Francisco 49ers, the Birds are hot.

Bucs-Falcons is scheduled to kick off at 1 on Fox.