TAMPA - Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels will start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, becoming the first undrafted rookie to make a regular season start at quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in more than 50 seasons of franchise existence, after Baker Mayfield suffered a dislocated right thumb last week against Minnesota.
Mayfield, sidelined by the injury, has spent the week preparing his backup for the moment. “He simply put it as, ‘You’ve been dreaming of this opportunity,’” Daniels said of Mayfield’s counsel. “‘Just stay composed, play as yourself, don’t try to be anybody else besides yourself, and just go out there and go make football plays.’”
Daniels, signed out of Kansas in May, arrives with a substantial college résumé: 9,282 passing yards and 1,445 rushing yards over 49 games with the Jayhawks, along with 23 rushing touchdowns. Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson has seen enough in practice and preseason to trust the undrafted rookie with the offense.
“Being the QB2, I’m trying to go out there and be able to operate the offense smoothly as if there’s nothing that changed,” Daniels said after his first practice as the starter. “Everything I’ve been doing on a week-to-week basis, I think that I have given the confidence to Z-Rob to be able to go out there and operate the offense how he wants to.”
Daniels said he expects Green Bay’s defense to test him early and often. “Defenses, whenever they see a rookie quarterback they try to do everything that they can to try to be able to blitz the quarterback, try to be able to make him get confused, try to be able to disguise everything that they can, and I’m aware of that,” he said. He added that he has been studying Green Bay film alongside Mayfield and practice squad quarterback Easton Stick to prepare for every defensive look the Packers might show.
His mobility figures to be a weapon. Daniels said he understands when to use his legs to keep drives alive. “Sometimes the defense wins,” he said. “When the defense is locking everything up, sometimes you have to be able to try to get out of the pocket and try to be able to go make plays.”
Daniels also spoke of the emotional responsibility that comes with running the offense, saying he intends to “be the thermostat and not the thermometer” for his teammates. He called the moment exactly what it is. “This is a dream come true,” he said. “Obviously, your first start, you get one first start. You don’t do it twice.”
Kickoff against the Packers at Tampa Bay is Sunday.