Vic Fangio notes: Big fan of Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield
Vic Fangio notes: Big fan of Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Vic Fangio is a big fan of Baker Mayfield.
In fact, when Fangio was asked about the Buccaneers' offense on Tuesday, he explained how big of a fan he is.
The quarterback is playing really good," Fangio said. He's a scrambler. He scrambled, I think, 11 times this year for close to 120 yards already, so that's always an issue. I've always liked Mayfield. I think he's a good quarterback. Why these teams that had him didn't keep him, I don't know. But GMs make mistakes, just like coaches do. I've always liked Mayfield."
Mayfield, 30, was the No. 1 overall pick back in the 2018 draft and spent his first four seasons with the Browns. He then split his 2022 season between the Panthers and Rams.
And now Mayfield is in his third year as a starter with the Bucs. He has been named a Pro Bowler in each of his first two years in Tampa and enters Sunday with a career record of 53-53.
In four career starts against the Eagles (three regular season, one playoff game), Mayfield has a 3-1 record. In those games, he has completed 60.8% of his passes for 1,034 yards (258.5) with 6 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Shadowing a No. 1 receiver
During training camp, the Eagles made sure to get Quinyon Mitchell a bunch of reps on both sides of the field for a game exactly like the one we saw Sunday.
It was Mitchell's job to follow Pro Bowl receiver Davante Adams.
Quinyon Mitchell shadowed Davante Adams on 27 of 34 routes (79.4%) in Week 3, per @NextGenStats
It's the first time Mitchell has ever shadowed a receiver on over 60% of their routes. Mitchell gave up just 2 catches for 12 yards on 5 targets to Adams.
- Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) September 22, 2025
I think he did fine," Fangio said. Obviously, [Adams is] a hard guy to cover. They have two really good receivers, so I think he did fine. When you're matching guys, it's not as easy as you think it is.
There's the gymnastics of getting lined up, playing the call. Where did you end up on the previous play, how far away from the action were you, and you've got to get back and get the call. Everybody thinks it's easy, but it's not, and I think he's done a good job with it."
The Eagles have seemed to handle the coordination part of the puzzle well when Mitchell travels - they've been doing fine with it" - because the other corner has to flips sides of the field too.
While Mitchell is playing left and right cornerback when he travels with opposing receivers, Fangio said he doesn't plan on letting Mitchell move inside too. The Eagles feel great with Cooper DeJean inside.
Sticking with a rotation
Through three games, the Eagles have continued to use a rotation at the safety position next to Reed Blankenship. Rookie Drew Mukuba is on the field in the nickel package (79%) and Sydney Brown (26%) is on the field in base.
Fangio said that he has not historically used safety rotations but this year was a bit different.
We started that way in the first game just because Mukuba was coming off injury, Sydney was having a good camp," Fangio said. So, we just wanted to split it that way, and we've kind of kept it that way. But that doesn't mean that's the way it will be all the time."
Fangio allowed that having two consistent safeties is usually the way it works out" but didn't say whether or not this team is heading that way.