The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered their bye week in a very comfortable situation, after their recent 23-3 win against the New Orleans Saints. With a breather before the stretch run, QB Baker Mayfield and OT Tristan Wirfs attended a Tampa Bay Lightning NHL game for some downtime. But in the middle of the fun, Mayfield found himself caught off guard by a surprising personal revelation from his teammate.

When Jackie Redmond of TNT Sports asked who could be a better ice hockey player between them, the Bucs offensive tackle revealed that he knows a thing or two about ice hockey since his childhood, something Mayfield was not aware of, perhaps.

“My grandma got me ice skating lessons for my birthday when I was like six. I’m all in,” Wirfs said. Surprised by his teammate’s response, Mayfield jokingly said that his grandmother did not love as much as Wirfs’.

“My grandma loved me, too, but she didn’t give me ice skating lessons,” the Bucs’ QB replied.

It was an incident filled with laughter, showing off the field bonding between the Bucs. Although the entire locker room believes in spending valuable time together as it brings everyone as one on- field. This duo shares a special bond.

It’s not the first time the duo has been seen in a candid off-the-field moment. Since joining the Buccaneers, Wirfs and Mayfield have formed a natural bond. And back in 2024, Wirfs himself testified to it.

“There’s a little bar down in Davis Island we all go to after games,” On his appearance on the Pivot, Tristan said. “Hang out, you know, watch the Sunday night game, Monday night game, whatever it is. But being able to go out and hang out with Baker, I mean, he’s one of my best friends, so that’s an awesome relationship.”

It’s clear that the two share an amazing bond beyond football. The quarterback equally reciprocated the friendship. In 2024, he revealed that they quickly became best friends. ‘”It really was right away,” Mayfield said. “It was one of those thing-it’s truly out of the Step Brothers movie. ‘Did we just become best friends?’ We get along great.”

At 6–2 and atop the NFC South, it’s this type of camaraderie that seems to fuel momentum for the stretch run in Tampa Bay.

Baker’s Tampa Bay dominant show

Their last win showed how dominant the Bucs have been, especially with their defense; they forced four turnovers and collected five sacks. Mayfield led four straight scoring drives. This balance signals the Bucs are no longer one-dimensional.

Mayfield himself completed 15 of 24 passes for 152 yards. Along with this, it was his 25th regular-season win as a Bucs quarterback, moving past Josh Freeman and Vinny Testaverde’s record. However, the quarterback wasn’t happy with the offensive unit’s performance.

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”We’ll always take the wins, don’t get me wrong about that,” Mayfield said after the win. “But offensively, that wasn’t nearly good enough or close to what we want it to look like.”

Now, with Tampa Bay set to take on the New England Patriots, against whom they hold a modest 3-7 H2H record, the Bucs will want to keep this momentum going. While the Patriots have held the advantage in the series historically, the surging Bucs are coming together with momentum.

They will enter the matchup after a bye week, and they are positioned to close that series gap and assert themselves as the top challenger in the NFC.