Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is beginning the offseason after his team lost to the Washington Commanders 23-20 in the Wild Card round on Sunday.
After enjoying a strong second regular season in the Bay, Mayfield was frustrated after the loss in the Wild Card.
"Right now it absolutely sucks, so it's disappointing overall because I believe in this team," Mayfield said. "I believe we have the talent and the coaching staff and everybody around us to be able to go far."
However, the loss in the playoffs doesn't erase the progress the team made throughout the season, giving them a springboard to work off of going into the offseason.
"But looking back, you know, try to take a step back, big picture is this group fought," Mayfield said. "A lot of people stepped up throughout the year; a ton of guys that stepped up into huge roles. There is a lot to be proud of. In this moment that's hard to see, but there's a lot of young guys that are going to be on this roster next year that had to step up and did in a big way. That should build confidence for those guys knowing that who they are as players and as men in adversity situations, to be able to step up like they did. So that's something to be proud of."
Now, the Bucs will go back to the drawing board to find ways to ensure that an exit like this doesn't happen again next year.
