Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is re-igniting an old connection this season in former college teammate Sterling Shepard.

That was on full display in Sunday’s 29-27 win over the New York Jets when Mayfield connected Shepard for a 20-yard pass play during a game-winning drive. Mayfield and Shepard played together at Oklahoma before their NFL careers took them different directions.

“Shep is just ‘old reliable,’” Mayfield told reporters afterward. “He’s my crazy lunatic that I continue to lean on.”

Shepard had the second-best numbers among the Buccaneers receivers on Sunday with four catches for 80 yards. Overall, he has 11 receptions for 153 yards, which is second on the team behind rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka.

“He continues to find ways to win in man coverage and be there in clutch moments for us,” Mayfield said of Shepard.

Shepard has enjoyed a solid NFL career, but his 80-yard game was his best since 2021. The former Sooners wideout had 36 catches for 366 yards and a touchdown that year, and his career took a downturn over the following two seasons due to an ACL tear.

He had 13 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown in 2022 for the Giants, and Shepard then had just 10 receptions for 57 yards and touchdown in 2023.  The Buccaneers took a chance on Shepard in 2024 with a one-year deal, and he produced with 32 catches for 334 yards and a touchdown.

Tampa Bay extended Shepard in the offseason, and it’s paying off thus far. Shepard has a career-high 13.9 yards per catch, and he’s on pace for performance that resembles his pre-ACL tear seasons.

In his first five seasons, Shepard has at least 57 receptions for 576 yards and two touchdowns annually. He has 415 receptions for 4,582 yards and 24 touchdowns in 107 career games overall. His current pace is 62 receptions and 867 yards if he keeps this up for 17 games.

A decade ago, Shepard was putting up big numbers with Mayfield in Oklahoma. Shepard had 86 receptions for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns as Mayfield’s go-to wideout in 2015.

“He’s been a heck of a receiver in this league when he’s healthy,” Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles told reporters about Shepard afterward. “He can make plays all over the field; we’ve seen that briefly over the last couple of weeks.”

Tampa Bay will need the help from Sehpard going forward. The Buccaneers lost star wide receiver Mike Evans to a hamstring injury on Sunday.

Evans has been Mayfield’s go-to target for years, and the former Texas A&M star has eclipsed 1,000 yards in every year of his career thus far. The Buccaneers still have wide receiver Chris Godwin on the sidelines, too, due to an ankle injury.

That said, it hasn’t slowed down Mayfield from finding ways to win. He has three game-winning drives this season already, but the biggest challenge thus far awaits in Week 4 when the Buccaneers face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

“It is much of the same, resilient group, we stick together,” Mayfield said. “The whole team, when one part of it, one phase of it is a little bit down, others [have] to pick it up and be there for you.”

“That’s what this team is all about, we support each other no matter what,” he added. “It is a resilient, mentally tough group.”