Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield confident as presumed No. 1 QB

Baker Mayfield isn't yet the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but sounded like a QB1 learning a new offense while speaking with reporters on Tuesday. 

"I feel comfortable with where I’m at right now," Mayfield said during a news conference, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "Now, it’s about making sure that my comfortability resonates with everyone else. That is the quarterback’s job is to make sure everybody gets on the same page and make sure we breathe that confidence throughout the whole team. I feel good with where I am at right now, but there is obviously always room to improve." 

Back on March 16, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted that Mayfield signed a one-year "prove it" contract filled with incentives to join the Buccaneers after the 28-year-old reportedly attracted interest from the Baltimore Ravens. Mayfield later said the opportunity to compete with 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask was "a perfect opportunity for me," and the first choice from the 2018 draft seems to be the clear favorite to start when Tampa Bay opens the regular season at the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 10. 

According to the JoeBucsFan website, former Vikings general manager and current CBS Sports contributor Rick Spielman said that Mayfield "was clearly the No. 1 quarterback" during Tuesday's practice. CBS' Pete Prisco agreed with Spielman's take. 

"I feel like I’m really seeing it well right now — reacting and playing," Mayfield continued. "I’m very confident in where we’re at right now, so just continuing to build that and trusting these guys. The greatest improvement you can see is just each day. No matter what it is, just getting better at one thing each day, and I think today we got a little bit better about communication. We will go in there and talk about it some more, but I’m happy with where we are at." 

The Buccaneers have no reason to publicly anoint Mayfield their starter before they begin preseason play against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 11, but just about every sign points to Trask quickly becoming an afterthought well before Week 1 of the regular season arrives.