Baker Mayfield Dislocates Thumb as the Buccaneers' Season Officially Hits the Panic Button

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are officially 0-3, and now they have to figure out how to play professional football without their starting quarterback's throwing thumb.

According to head coach Todd Bowles, via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Baker Mayfield dislocated his right thumb during Sunday's 23-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He is scheduled for an MRI on Monday, but the team already expects him to miss significant time.

"Ian Rapoport reported the injury per Todd Bowles, noting Mayfield is likely to miss time."

Dislocating the thumb on your throwing hand is the quarterback equivalent of a mechanic losing their wrench. You can technically still show up to the facility, but absolutely nothing productive is going to happen on the field.

The injury is just the cherry on top of a miserable Sunday for Tampa Bay. Before the news broke, Mayfield was running for his life, taking six sacks for 31 lost yards. He finished 17-of-34 for 217 yards, one touchdown, and one interception against a Vikings defense that treated the Bucs' offensive line like a suggestion.

The tragic part is that All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs was supposed to be back and stabilizing this unit. Instead, Mayfield spent the afternoon getting folded like a lawn chair, dropping his passer rating over his last 10 games to a painfully mediocre 79.9.

For anyone holding Buccaneers futures tickets, this is the part where you quietly close your betting app and stare at the ceiling. An 0-3 hole is already a statistical death sentence in the NFL, but trying to climb out of it with a backup quarterback is basically asking for a miracle.

The Monday MRI will tell us exactly how many weeks Mayfield has to spend in a splint. In the meantime, the winless Bucs have to figure out how to host the Green Bay Packers next Sunday without the guy who was supposed to keep their offense afloat.