Copyright sportskeeda
Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Buccaneers are ending their bye week sporting a comfortable 6-2 record, but Danny Parkins is not sold on their elite status even as they prepare to return to the field.The NFC South's current overlords will initially have it rough when they host the resurgent New England Patriots this coming Sunday. After that, they will face two current divisional champions in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams.However, they will have an easier slate after that — four intradivisional matchups against opponents who did not have a winning record, as well as an intrastate clash with the struggling Miami Dolphins. Nevertheless, that "soft schedule" is why Parkins refuses to buy into them as contenders despite their "good fortune".He said to Nick Wright on Thursday's episode of FS1's First Things First:"I think Baker Mayfield will go from 6-2 to 6-5 to 11-7. I think they're exactly what they've been the last couple of years. A good team that beats up the NFC South with an unbelievably talented QB and a great organization. ... But I don't think they're a great overall football team."The difficulty of the first three games post-bye was something Mayfield himself acknowledged during media availability on Wednesday:“Guys have shown it is a resilient group and that they are able to handle whatever we throw at them in whatever we have installed. [Have] to keep going, and at this point real football starts and we have a really, really good opponent coming out here.”Baker Mayfield praises Drake Maye ahead of Patriots-Bucs matchupAhead of the game, Baker Mayfield had praise for Drake Maye during media availability on Thursday:“I love Drake, really good guy. Just how he is playing, efficient. I think the down-the-field passing is something that he was really good at in college, and it is translating now. You can just tell he is getting comfortable. (The) game is slowing down for him, he is athletic. Although he is a big guy, he can take off and run.”He also spoke up on the Buccaneers' silence at the trade deadline - for him, that is just how general manager Jason Licht generally operates during such a situation:“You always run the risk of bringing in somebody that might throw off the culture a little bit... unless you bring in Randy Moss or Calvin Johnson out of retirement, I do not think we had any other options. We trust what we have; [it is] just getting healthy and trying to get guys back on the field.”Kickoff for the game against the Patriots is at 1 pm ET on CBS.
