Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Strong showing in preseason finale
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Trask completed 17 of 24 passes for 141 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while adding one carry for one yard in the Buccaneers' 24-14 preseason win over the Dolphins on Friday night.
Baker Mayfield started and led the Buccaneers on a touchdown drive during the opening possession, and Trask subsequently took over for the duration of the contest. As his final line implies, the third-year signal-caller was sharp and mistake-free throughout, and he connected with Ryan Miller (10 yards) and Tanner Knue (two yards) for his pair of scoring tosses. With John Wolford not seeing any action Friday and Trask looking impressive with his extended opportunity, it appears likely the latter has locked up the No. 2 quarterback job.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Outperforms Wolford in loss
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Trask completed 12 of 19 passes for 108 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and rushed once for four yards in the Buccaneers' 20-7 preseason loss to the Jaguars on Saturday night.
Trask led the Buccaneers' only scoring drive of the night, a nine-play, 68-yard march he capped off with a six-yard touchdown pass to Cody Thompson. With his first-half performance, the third-year quarterback appears to have gotten a leg up on fellow signal-caller John Wolford (ribs) in the battle for the No. 2 job, and the latter's injury, which forced a fourth-quarter exit Saturday, arguably tips the job battle in Trask's favor all the more.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Solid in starting assignment
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Trask started the Buccaneers' 17-14 preseason win over the Bengals on Saturday night and completed 12 of 20 passes for 144 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed twice for one yard and fumbled once but recovered.
Trask played the entire first half and was able to lead only one scoring drive, an eight-play, 77-yard march where he recorded completions of 24, 19 and 21 yards to Ryan Miller, Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer, respectively. Trask is now in his third preseason with the Buccaneers, but unlike last summer, he's going through the exhibition slate as the clear No. 2 quarterback behind Baker Mayfield. While Mayfield should see some playing time in next Saturday's road matchup against the Jaguars, Trask should also see his fair share of snaps after the latter is finished for the night.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Named starter for preseason opener
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Head coach Todd Bowles announced Thursday that Trask will start in Saturday's preseason opener against the Bengals, Brianna Dix of the Buccaneers' official site reports.
Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield and several other Bucs starters -- including wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and tight end Cade Otton -- will not suit up for Saturday's contest, per Dix. Trask will lead the offense to the start the game, with third-string quarterback John Wolford expected to take over at some point. Saturday's contest gives Trask an opportunity to solidify himself as the backup quarterback to Mayfield and will also give players like 2024 third-round wideout Jalen McMillan the chance for extra reps.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Makes second appearance Week 12
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Trask played two of the Buccaneers' 60 snaps on offense in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Buccaneers, throwing an incompletion on his lone pass attempt.
Trask has been active for every game this season as the Buccaneers' No. 2 quarterback, but Sunday marked just the second time he's seen the field. He was pressed into action in a key spot in the first quarter, when starter Baker Mayfield injured his ankle on a goal-line carry. Trask stepped in on second-and-goal, but after a false-start penalty and then a three-yard Rachaad White run, Trask was unable to connect with Chris Godwin on a potential touchdown on third down. The Buccaneers proceeded to kick a field goal, and Trask remained on the sideline the rest of the game after Mayfield was cleared to return for the team's next possession. Mayfield was a full practice participant Wednesday and is on track to start Sunday against the Panthers, so Trask will be sticking in a backup role once again this weekend.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Impresses with extended action
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Trask completed 20 of 28 passes for 218 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions and rushed four times for seven yards in the Buccaneers' 13-6 preseason win over the Jets on Saturday. He also committed a fumble recovered by Tampa Bay.
Trask drew the start after coming in behind Baker Mayfield in the Buccaneers' preseason opener against the Steelers, and he ultimately played much more than planned Saturday due to the neck injury suffered by John Wolford. The second-year signal-caller's night didn't start off in ideal fashion by any stretch when Tampa Bay was forced to punt on its first two possessions, with Trask losing his grip on the ball due to the sack that ended the latter drive. However, matters picked up from there, as he subsequently connected with rookie Trey Palmer for a nifty 33-yard touchdown that the receiver helped tip to himself. Trask finished the first half with a 16-for-23, 122-yard tally. That wouldn't be the end of his night, however, as Wolford's late third-quarter injury brought Trask back into the contest and allowed him to finish with a very strong line overall. With both he and Mayfield having impressed to varying degrees in each of the first two preseason games, the job battle may come down to this week's set of practices and next Saturday night's home preseason finale versus the Ravens.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Gets Saturday start
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Trask is in line to start Saturday's preseason game against the Jets, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Baker Mayfield got the start in the Bucs' first preseason game, and as planned, Trask gets the nod Saturday. Stroud suggests that depending on how many possessions the team has and the resulting success of them, the 2021 second-rounder could play into the second quarter. Trask will be followed by Mayfield as Tampa Bay's QB competition continues ahead of Week 1.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Appears to be gaining ground
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Trask has made significant strides thus far in training camp and drawn very close in his job battle with Baker Mayfield, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.
Laine notes that Mayfield appeared to have a sizable lead over Trask back during June minicamp, but the paradigm appears to have shifted since training camp began. The 2021 second-round pick has looked far more decisive with the ball and has been making noteworthy plays in every practice. The two players continue to alternate first-team reps for the moment and could well compete through the duration of the preseason, with Friday's exhibition opener versus the Steelers serving as the first in-game platform for their job battle.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Obstacles in path of starting job
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Trask faces some challenges in his quest to become the Buccaneers' starting quarterback in 2023, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
General manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles unsurprisingly gave Trask public votes of confidence when speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, but the largely unproven 2021 second-round pick has some hurdles to clear in his bid to succeed Tom Brady as the Buccaneers' starting signal-caller. Stroud points out that Trask will not only be tasked with learning a new offense, but will also be working with a first-time play-caller in new offensive coordinator Dave Canales as well as a rookie position coach in Thad Lewis. Additionally, a young but experienced veteran such as Drew Lock or Baker Mayfield is likely to eventually be added to the quarterback room, which could be a challenge Trask isn't ready to overcome.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Will likely be active Sunday
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Head coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday that Trask has a good chance to be active and would be the next man up if Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert both leave Sunday's matchup against Atlanta early, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports.
The Buccaneers are locked into the fourth seed for the NFC playoffs, so while Brady will start, it's not expected he plays the whole game. If that's the case, Gabbert would operate as the primary backup, while Trask would come in if both veteran quarterbacks are taken out. Trask was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft but has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
Trask completed 11 of 24 passes for 105 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the Buccaneers' 13-3 preseason loss to the Titans on Saturday night. He also committed two fumbles, recovering both.
A week after putting together an encouraging body of work in the preseason opener against the Dolphins, Trask's night started poorly when he came in for Tampa Bay's third offensive series of the game and never really got much better. The second-year signal-caller took a sack on his first dropback, and the Buccaneers gained all of 49 yards and turned the ball over twice, including once via a Trask interception, on his first six possessions to wrap up the first half. The offense showed more life by amassing 86 yards and a field goal on 17 plays over the first pair of second-half drives, but Trask's night is difficult to label as anything other than disappointing, although abysmal play by the offensive line that helped lead to four sacks of the young quarterback naturally didn't help. Assuming Tom Brady (personal) returns to the team early this coming week as reported by Greg Auman of The Athletic, Trask's ongoing growing pains are at least relegated to the back burner with veteran Blaine Gabbert still a buffer between the future Hall of Famer and the University of Florida product in the regular season.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Likely No. 3 QB to start season
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Buccaneers quarterback coach Clyde Christensen said Tuesday that he doesn't expect Trask to compete with Blaine Gabbert for the No. 2 spot this season, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.
With the return of Tom Brady, neither quarterback is expected to see the field, but it sounds like the veteran Gabbert has the primary backup spot locked down heading into training camp. There was speculation that Trask could compete with Gabbert after being selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but the second-year quarterback is apparently headed for another developmental year.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Ragged showing in extended action
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Trask completed 13 of 26 passes for 131 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the Buccaneers' 34-3 preseason loss to the Titans on Saturday night. He also rushed twice for minus-3 yards and fumbled once, but it was recovered by the offense.
The rookie played the entire second half and certainly took his lumps, short-circuiting a pair of drives with interceptions at the Titans' 47-yard line and midfield. On the brighter side of things, Trask's final line was appreciably better than the 4-for-15 showing he put up in his pro debut against the Bengals last Saturday, and he certainly will benefit from the extended amount of reps he received while dropping back 26 times. The University of Florida product has already demonstrated why he's a clear long-term developmental project at this point in time, but he'll look to head into the regular season with a good showing in what will very likely be extended playing time again in next Saturday's exhibition finale versus the Texans.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Rough preseason debut
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Trask completed four of 15 passes for 35 yards in Saturday's preseason loss to the Bengals.
The rookie entered the game midway through the third quarter as Tampa Bay's fourth QB of the night and did not look ready for prime time. Trask, taken in the second round of the 2021 draft, is purely a developmental project with Tom Brady locked into the starting role and veteran Blaine Gabbert in the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. The Bucs' season likely would be in a massive tailspin if the 23-year-old were to get any regular-season reps.
