Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield doesn’t expect ‘clean play’ from Saints: ‘I do not like them’

For Mayfield, the absences are just a fact of life in the NFL.

“Until we just lost, nobody was complaining or moaning about it,” Mayfield said. “It is the nature of the game. You know you have a game every week until your bye, so you figure it out and move on. You do not have to have an extra speech, guys know they have to get ready — physically as well as you possibly can to play and go from there.”

Because they played Monday night, the Buccaneers (5-2) have one fewer day to rest, heal and prepare for their meeting with New Orleans (1-6). Fortunately, the Saints are also picking themselves up off the mat after falling to the Chicago Bears in a turnover-filled defeat in the Windy City.

Mayfield knows one win can wash away the bad taste from a loss like the one they experienced in Detroit. He expects his teammates to bounce back and bring their best to the NFC South showdown.

“Yeah, I think you look at that — I know it is not a Thursday week — but similar on short weeks, if you lose, you want to get out there quicker rather than later to get it out of your system,” Mayfield said. “Especially when you have a group like we have, they understand what we have to do to get the job done to find wins. Our guys will handle it the right way, heal up as quick as we can and go from there.”