Baker Mayfield Injury Shakes Cardinals

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a sprained left shoulder on Sunday night in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams and did not return for the second half.

The injury is certainly a cause for concern for a Tampa Bay team that has lost three games in a row and is now just 6-5 and tied atop the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers (also 6-5) set to play on Monday night.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said that Mayfield will have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of his injury.

The star quarterback took a few hits on Sunday night, but he appeared to fully aggravate the injury on a Hail Mary attempt right before the end of the first half. Mayfield went down in pain and returned to the sideline in a sling in the second half.

Teddy Bridgewater replaced Mayfield against the Rams, and he would likely be in line to start in Week 13 at home against the Arizona Cardinals.

Oddsmakers seem to think there is a good chance that Bridgewater starts the game, as the odds for this matchup moved by four points after Sunday’s loss. Tampa Bay opened as a 6.5-point favorite at home against Arizona, but the odds at DraftKings now have the Bucs favored by just 2.5 points.

Tampa Bay has lost three games in a row to playoff contenders in the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and Rams, and it is far from a sure thing to win the NFC South. Still, oddsmakers have the Bucs at -425 to win the division this season, a sign that they expect Mayfield to return at some point in the 2025 campaign.

This season, Mayfield got off to a hot start and was an MVP candidate, but he has cooled off since the team’s Week 9 bye. The former No. 1 overall pick has completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,406 yards, 18 scores and five picks in the 2025 campaign.

His status will be important to monitor throughout the week, although the odds already seem to signal that he’s facing an uphill battle to play.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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