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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

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NFL

Buccaneers Defense Makes Life Miserable for Baker Mayfield as David Walker Keeps Surging

By Samantha Diane

Aug 6, 2026

Baker Mayfield could not find many comfortable places to go with the football.

After three consecutive practices inside Tampa Bay’s indoor facility followed by a rest day Wednesday, the Buccaneers returned outdoors and were greeted by the Florida sun. Mayfield also received a less hospitable welcome from his own defense.

Pressure collapsed the pocket. The secondary took away options downfield. Mayfield was flushed outside and forced to throw the ball away multiple times. When he attempted to work underneath to Cade Otton, backup linebacker John Bullock diagnosed the play, jumped the route and took the interception the other direction for a touchdown.

It was that kind of practice for the offense.

Rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter drilled Otton immediately after another short completion. Rookie Keionte Scott broke up a Mayfield pass intended for Payne Durham. Rookie cornerback Ayden Garnes got a hand on another throw intended for Ted Hurst III along the sideline. Rueben Bain Jr. destroyed a screen to Bucky Irving before it had much of a chance to become anything.

No single training camp practice should be used as a referendum on Mayfield or Tampa Bay’s offense. Bad practices happen. Defensive coordinators also have the considerable advantage of spending every day against the same playbook and personnel.

But there was a theme worth acknowledging.

The Buccaneers defense did not simply collect a couple of flashy plays. It created problems at multiple levels, and several young defenders were responsible for them.

Then David Walker Jr. did what David Walker Jr. apparently does every practice now.

He got to the quarterback.

Walker finished the day by stripping backup Jake Browning, then recovering the fumble himself. After missing his entire rookie season with a torn ACL, Walker has gone from an unknown developmental piece to one of the hardest players at Buccaneers camp to ignore.

One difficult practice for Mayfield is August.

Walker consistently wrecking plays throughout camp is beginning to look like something more.

Tampa Bay’s defense gave Mayfield nowhere comfortable to operate

Quarterbacks wear plenty of blame when an offense struggles, mostly because that's part of the job description. Mayfield threw the interception. It will appear next to his name in any practice report.

But the more interesting story was how difficult Tampa Bay’s defense made the entire operation.

Mayfield repeatedly found himself moved from his original launch point because pressure was arriving before comfortable throwing windows developed. When he escaped the pocket, the secondary was not giving him easy rescue throws downfield.

Sometimes the correct quarterback decision is the least exciting one available.

Throw it away.

That happened multiple times.

In a real game, living for the next down rather than forcing something into coverage is generally preferable to creating the kind of turnover Bullock eventually produced. In training camp, however, every rep gives the defense another opportunity to test the quarterback's patience.

Bullock won that battle.

On a throw intended for Otton, he anticipated the route, stepped into the passing lane and returned the interception for a touchdown.

Pick-sixes during camp make for great defensive celebrations, but what makes the rep meaningful is the recognition. Bullock is a backup linebacker competing in a defense where every useful snap matters. Reading a concept quickly enough to steal possession is the kind of play that can make coaches rewind the film rather than simply advance to the next rep.

The tight ends found themselves involved in several of the defense’s best moments.

Trotter delivered an immediate hit on Otton following a short completion, another example of the rookie inside linebacker becoming significantly more noticeable since the pads came on.

That qualification matters.

There are players who shine during non-padded portions of the offseason because movement and athleticism are emphasized. There are others whose games become easier to understand once contact becomes part of the evaluation.

Trotter appears to be making a stronger impression now that physicality actually matters.

Scott added another defensive win when he broke up Mayfield’s throw for Durham, continuing an afternoon in which Tampa Bay’s offense struggled to generate much clean work through the tight ends.

The secondary was similarly active.

Garnes broke up a Mayfield pass for Hurst along the right sideline. Hurst has already created positive moments in camp, particularly as injuries have opened opportunities in the receiver rotation, so a defensive back denying him a boundary completion is useful information for both players.

Then there was Bain.

On a screen intended for Irving, Bain blew up the play before Tampa Bay could get it rolling.

Screens are supposed to use defensive aggression against itself. Let the rush come, get the football behind it and create space for the running back.

That plan becomes significantly less clever when a defender recognizes it before the blockers can sell the deception.

Bain did.

Taken individually, none of these snaps changes Tampa Bay’s season outlook. Collectively, they created a practice where the defense repeatedly dictated the terms.

That is a much more interesting development than simply saying Mayfield had a bad day.

David Walker Jr. keeps providing evidence that his emergence is real

There is training camp hype, and then there is a player doing essentially the same disruptive thing over and over until calling it hype starts feeling intentionally stubborn.

David Walker Jr. is getting closer to the second category.

Walker’s latest contribution was a strip sack of Browning near the end of practice. He did not stop after knocking the football loose. He recovered it himself.

It would be an excellent isolated rep.

It is more interesting because it wasn't isolated.

Walker has generated a sack in just about every practice, continuing a run of disruption that has become one of Tampa Bay’s most consistent camp developments.

Todd Bowles has clearly noticed.

"We didn't get to see him in pads last year, but to see him out there and the way he moves -- he moves like an inside backer, but he plays like an outside backer and he's got great power," Bowles said.

That description gets to the reason Walker’s emergence deserves more attention than the standard August breakout candidate.

He missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL.

Tampa Bay did not have meaningful padded NFL work from which to evaluate him last year. The organization knew the player it acquired, but projecting how someone moves and wins once professional offensive linemen are allowed to put their hands on him is another matter entirely.

Now the Buccaneers are getting that information.

The combination Bowles described is intriguing: movement skills resembling an inside linebacker with the power profile of an outside linebacker.

Versatility is one of the most abused words in football, mostly because almost every coach likes having it and almost every player would prefer being described as possessing it.

But there is a practical reason it matters here.

An edge defender capable of threatening blockers with more than one physical profile gives Tampa Bay options. Power becomes harder to prepare for when the player delivering it can also move. Movement becomes more dangerous when an offensive tackle cannot simply sit back and wait for speed.

Again, training camp requires restraint.

Walker has not produced a regular-season sack yet. Doing this against Buccaneers tackles in familiar practice situations is not the same thing as doing it against starting NFL offensive lines when opponents have spent an entire week constructing protections specifically designed to neutralize Tampa Bay’s front.

But you can only evaluate the work currently available.

And the available work keeps pointing in the same direction.

Walker is getting into the backfield.

He is affecting quarterbacks.

He is now creating turnovers.

At some point the appropriate response is not to declare him a star. It is to acknowledge that he is earning a legitimate role in the conversation.

The upcoming preseason and continued work against unfamiliar opponents will give Tampa Bay the next layer of evidence.

If Walker keeps showing up there, this stops being a fun camp story and begins becoming a personnel problem for opposing offenses.

Tampa Bay is getting healthier in some places, but important absences remain

Thursday's practice also brought encouraging movement on the availability front.

Emeka Egbuka returned after dealing with soreness, while Chris Godwin Jr. was back after receiving a rest day Tuesday.

For a receiver room already operating without Jalen McMillan, Tez Johnson and David Sills V, simply getting two important pieces back matters.

Godwin’s presence is particularly significant because Tampa Bay can continue moving him throughout the formation while younger receivers compete around him. Egbuka’s return gives the offense another option at a position where injuries have redistributed practice repetitions throughout camp.

Dean Patterson made use of his opportunity as well, hauling in an impressive deep ball while working against Josh Hayes.

That is the other side of the injury equation.

Absences can disrupt installation and chemistry, but they also create reps that would not otherwise exist. For players deeper on the depth chart, those reps are currency.

Patterson converting one deep ball is not enough to suddenly rearrange Tampa Bay’s receiver hierarchy. It does, however, give coaches another rep to evaluate while McMillan, Johnson and Sills remain unavailable.

The defensive side received reinforcements too.

Defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson returned after a rest day, while safety Miles Killebrew was back while working through a knee issue.

Perhaps the most notable incremental development came from Benjamin Morrison.

Morrison has been dealing with a hamstring issue and was able to participate in individual drills. That does not mean he is ready for full team periods or that a return is imminent. Tampa Bay has not provided enough information to make that conclusion.

But after extended limitations, individual work represents something tangible.

For a young cornerback, every increase in participation matters because there is only so much evaluation that can happen from the sideline. Position battles continue whether an injured player is involved in them or not.

Elsewhere, the injury list still includes significant names.

McMillan remains sidelined with his knee issue, Johnson with his groin injury and Sills with his knee. Inside linebacker Alex Anzalone sat out because of soreness.

There was also no change in the status of Vita Vea, who is dealing with a back issue, or Tristan Wirfs, who remains out with a hamstring injury.

Wirfs' absence continues to create context around Tampa Bay’s pass-rush success. The defensive front deserves credit for consistently disrupting practices, but evaluating that pressure becomes considerably more useful once the Buccaneers have their top left tackle back or begin seeing opposing offensive lines.

That is why the preseason progression matters.

Camp begins with installation and internal evaluation. Eventually, unfamiliar opponents expose which developments were legitimate and which ones benefited from repetition against the same teammates.

Tampa Bay is approaching that phase.

And it arrives with the Buccaneers defense carrying some momentum.

There was also a little organizational history watching from the sideline.

Lavonte David, Tampa Bay's 12-time captain who retired this spring, surprised teammates by appearing at practice. For a defense currently trying to identify which younger players can emerge into larger roles, having one of the franchise's defining defensive figures around offered a reminder of the standard those players are chasing.

Former Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden was also in attendance. Gruden is scheduled to call Tampa Bay’s second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22, adding another familiar face to a practice already featuring plenty of franchise history.

The nostalgia was nice.

The more important developments were happening between the lines.

Trotter is becoming more noticeable with pads on.

Bullock produced a defensive touchdown.

Garnes and Scott made plays in coverage.

Bain diagnosed a screen.

Walker continued doing whatever he can to make the phrase "training camp breakout" feel increasingly insufficient.

And Mayfield?

There is no reason for panic.

One ugly August practice does not erase what Tampa Bay believes about its starting quarterback. If anything, there is value in a defense creating the kinds of problems that force him to work through pressure, abandon bad plays and occasionally pay for a mistake.

The Buccaneers would rather discover those issues now than when the standings are involved.

The larger question is whether Tampa Bay’s defense can reproduce this kind of disruption when the jerseys across from them are a different color.

That is what comes next.

The pressure on Mayfield was meaningful.

The tight coverage was encouraging.

The young defenders making plays were worth noticing.

But Walker remains the most fascinating piece of the entire equation because his production is no longer confined to one particularly good afternoon.

He keeps appearing.

Training camp is full of players having moments.

David Walker Jr. is beginning to build a pattern.