NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Panthers, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield

“I think it was excellent to see him go out there and play an extended amount of snaps,” Leftwich said Thursday, via the Tampa Bay Times. “I don’t know if he was ready for that many earlier. We saw the gifts that he had early but … we’re here with him every day, so we knew we had to get him to the point he could handle that type of load. He’s there now.

“So it was good to see him go out and play and show the skill set that he’s got, show the skill set that we like.”

Baker Mayfield  

Panthers QB Baker Mayfield is heading back to the bench for the second time this season, which almost surely marks the end of the team’s experiment with Mayfield. He’s in a contract year and the Panthers almost surely will go a different direction this offseason. That leaves Mayfield’s NFL career in an uncertain place. 

“I think there’s a lot of things up in the air for the future here,” he said via the Athletic’s Joe Person. “So I don’t really know. I’m doing what I can, what I can control. I know how my teammates feel about me and how I’ve handled things here. So I can leave here with my head held high, and understand I did everything I could.”

Sam Darnold

Panthers QB Sam Darnold, who is set to start Week 12, said that he is excited to play and is focused on developing consistency. 

“I’m just excited to play football,” Darnold said, via Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer. “I’m excited to be able to go out there and play with the guys. The biggest thing for me is playing consistent, and taking what they give me. I think that’ll kind of be the story of the day on Sunday, and I’m excited to go out there and do what I can to help this team win.”

Darnold added that he’s not concerned about being in the final year of his contract.

“Right now, I’m not focused on the future in any circumstance,” Darnold said. “I think, for me, it’s really about focusing on this Broncos defense. And if I look too far in the future, or think about what things could look like for me next year, I’d be doing this team and this organization a disservice.”