Torn Up From Week 2: Mayfield’s Hidden Knee Injuries During a Full 2025 Season

Baker Mayfield played with a sprained MCL and PCL in his knee from Week 2 on last season. According to NBC Sports‘ Mike Florio, citing reporting from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Mayfield reveals in the upcoming season of Quarterback on Netflix that the knee injury occurred in Week 2 and that he played with it from that point forward.

Injury Reports Were Inaccurate

Mayfield sustained sprains to both the MCL and PCL in his knee during Week 2 of the 2025 season. He played through it, but the official injury reports told a different story.

“Knee” wasn’t listed at all until Week 5. The knee was not the only issue. Mayfield also dealt with what the reporting describes as a bad biceps contusion in his throwing arm and a separate injury to the shoulder of his non-throwing arm.

Mayfield Plays Through Pain

The disclosure comes via the upcoming Quarterback documentary series, where Mayfield details the full scope of what he was managing. The combination – a sprained MCL, a sprained PCL, a biceps contusion in the throwing arm, and a non-throwing shoulder injury – covered essentially every major load-bearing system a quarterback relies on.

Mayfield has not missed a start since joining the Buccaneers. Playing through one sprained knee ligament for a week or two is common in the NFL. Playing through two simultaneously, from Week 2 through the end of a full regular season, is something else entirely. The fact that Mayfield maintained starter-level production across that stretch, while also managing a throwing-arm biceps contusion and a shoulder injury, makes the injury report gap even harder to dismiss.

NFL’s Injury Reporting System Under Scrutiny

Florio reports a structural problem with the NFL’s injury-reporting system. As he notes, when players are managing injuries that never fully appear on official reports, anyone with inside knowledge of those injuries holds an informational advantage. That concern has grown more pressing as sports gambling has expanded.

As Quarterback prepares to release its new season, more behind-the-scenes details on how Tampa Bay managed his availability week to week are expected to surface, and the NFL’s injury-reporting practices will likely face renewed scrutiny.