Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield plays with perhaps the largest-sized chip on his shoulder of any quarterback in the NFL. Always willing to prove the doubters wrong, Mayfield has turned up in big moments in all three of the Bucs’ wins this year — and he made sure to do so against the New York Jets in Week 3 due to some personal matters.

NFL fans all know how Mayfield revivified his NFL career in Tampa Bay, doing so after he was released by the Cleveland Browns in 2021. His next stop was with the Carolina Panthers, and after a very rough tenure there, Mayfield requested and was granted his release from the team. He went on to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 immediately after, which would kickstart his revival with the Bucs in 2022 — but Mayfield hasn’t forgotten about that Carolina stint.

Mayfield was asked about his win over the Jets after the game in Week 3, and he mentioned that New York’s defensive coordinator, Steve Wilks, was the interim head coach when Mayfield was released from the Panthers.

Their D-coordinator (Steve Wilks) was the one who cut me in Carolina,” Mayfield said. “A lot of stuff was personal today. Haason Reddick. Former Jet. A lot of people.”

It’s not often that these type of comments get a response, but Wilks himself was asked about Mayfield’s comment, and he gave his side of the story.

New York Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks speaks at a press conference during minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. / John Jones-Imagn Images

Wilks, after hearing Mayfield’s quote, explained that personnel decisions weren’t really up to him in his interim status with the Panthers.

“I don’t really think an interim coach has that much authority over personnel,” Wilks said. “If that’s the case, I would’ve never gotten rid of our best player, Christian McCaffrey.”

Wilks is right about this one. Being in a temporary position, it’s unlikely that he had much of a hand in getting rid of Mayfield — or McCaffrey, for that matter, who went on to the San Francisco 49ers. Mayfield elaborated on the situation during an interview with former Jets QB Mark Sanchez, explaining that his request to be released essentially came after Wilks told him he was going to be cut.

“We had a conversation,” Mayfield told Sanchez. “Which I did respect. Being straight to it, that’s really all you can ask for… he basically left it up to me, whether I was gonna get released. I was either gonna be inactive, or, I was either gonna get cut or ask for my release. It is what it is.”

Given that quote, it seems like Mayfield respected Wilks’ approach, but that didn’t prevent him from using it as bulletin board material. On top of that, it offered him one more big benefit — it put him on the path that made him a Buccaneer in Tampa, a place he has frequently called home after his stretch of stellar play.

“I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I worked out for me tremendously,” Mayfield said. “It wasn’t exactly straight to it, but it’s the nature of the game and I’m pretty appreciative that it happened because it got me to Tampa.”

Mayfield will get another chance to further solidify his place in Tampa when he faces off against the Philadelphia Eagles at 1 p.m. Sunday.