


Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield did not offer the warmest of welcomes to Rodrigo Blankenship.
“I still don’t like you,” Mayfield said to Blankenship — jokingly — while shaking the kicker’s hand as he joined the team’s camp for a tryout on Tuesday
Mayfield, set to enter his sixth season in the NFL, hasn’t forgotten the 2018 Rose Bowl game that put a curtain call on his collegiate career with Oklahoma.
The 54-48 double-overtime loss was dealt to the Heisman Trophy-winner by Blankenship and his Georgia squad.
Blankenship secured a couple of key field goals that propelled Georgia to the national championship game where the the Bulldogs ultimately fell to Alabama.
In the Rose Bowl, though, the kicker was 2-for-3 on field goals and amassed all six extra points to complete the comeback victory.
Whether jokingly or not, Mayfield clearly still remembers the sting from that game.
ABC Action News’ Kyle Burger asked the QB about the interaction with Blankenship.
“I noticed your interaction with Rodrigo Blankenship, bring back any Rose Bowl memories?,” Burger said.
“Are you trying to bring some back? I know you, Kyle, trying to to stir s-t up,” Mayfield responded.
Mayfield and Blankenship may have to learn how to be teammates this season.
Blankenship is coming off a January surgery to repair a torn leg muscle, but is keen on extending his NFL career in Tampa Bay.
With a Tom Brady-sized hole left at the QB1 position, Mayfield may be pegged to be the team’s next starter as he competes with Kyle Trask.
“That’s the quarterback’s job, to get everybody on the same page and make sure we breathe that confidence throughout the whole team,” Mayfield said on Tuesday. “I feel good with where I’m at right now, but there’s obviously always room to improve.”
The Buccaneers’ 2022 campaign ended quickly in the wild card game against the Cowboys, but Tampa Bay has a new look this year, likely with Mayfield as the backbone of it.