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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has never been one to shy away from confrontation or back down when someone tries to intimidate him. The latest example came in Monday night’s 20-19 victory over the Houston Texans, when a recurring adversary yet again tried to pull his chain.
A Mayfield scramble for a first down ended in an awkward landing, leading to him monetarily staying down on the field pain. It was then that Texans defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who has a history of antagonizing Mayfield, appeared to say something to the quarterback while he was down. Mayfield then sprang back up to his feet and began jawing at Gardner-Johnson before the two were separated.
When asked about his mentality in that moment on Wednesday, Mayfield gave a short but sweet answer.
“We don’t take any shit,” Mayfield said. “That’s about it.”
There’s a bit of history between Mayfield and Gardner-Johnson. In 2023 as a member of the Lions, Gardner-Johnson said “if you give that Tampa group a good quarterback, that’s a great group” ahead of their meeting with the Bucs in the playoff divisional round.
In the hours since Monday night’s game, Mayfield has gotten some shots of his own at Gardner-Johnson in, referring to him as “my buddy Chauncey” before rolling his eyes in his post-game press conference. Later, Mayfield posted a picture of his confrontation with Gardner-Johnson in his Instagram account with the caption “Built different. 10 toes down.”
Through the first two weeks of the NFL season, Mayfield has more than earned the right to talk. In leading the Buccaneers to a 2-0 start, Mayfield became the first NFL quarterback to lead a game-winning touchdown drive with less than 2:30 to play in back-to-back games since Brett Favre did so in 1999.
