For some reason, every New York Jets loss seems personal, almost like the opposing quarterbacks carry a chip on their shoulders. Week 1 was Aaron Rodgers‘ redemption song, and by Week 3, when they faced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield was singing his own.

Mayfield led the Bucs to a 29–27 win, and right after, you could feel the excitement radiating off him. Naturally, the spotlight also turned to the Jets’ defensive coordinator, Steve Wilks, and you could tell Mayfield had some thoughts there.

“I loved it,” Baker said after the game. “Their d-coordinator was the one that cut me in Carolina. A lot of stuff was personal today. Haason Reddick, former Jet. A lot of people.” Fast forward to now, Wilks was expected to address his former QB, and he sure did.

“I don’t think an interim coach has much say over personnel. If that was the case I wouldn’t have gotten rid of Christian McCaffrey,” the Jets’ defensive coordinator said, per The Athletic’s senior writer, Zack Rosenblatt. Here’s how it all went down back in the 2022 season. After spending four seasons in Cleveland, Mayfield joined the Panthers in 2022 via a trade.

Mayfield started Week 1 but went down with a high-ankle sprain in the Week 5 loss to the 49ers. He recovered by Week 8 but had to back up P.J. Walker until Week 9 changed everything. The Panthers were getting blown out 35–0 by the Bengals with Walker under center.

Interim HC Wilks brought Mayfield in for the second half, and he threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 42–21 loss. Ahead of Week 10, Mayfield was hoping to start, but Wilks stuck with Walker. Things snowballed from there, and Mayfield eventually requested his release.

Whether it was Wilks’ call to release Mayfield or not, that’s on him. But fast forward to now, and Mayfield just defeated the Jets 29–27 and didn’t shy away from calling out the Jets’ DC publicly.

It wasn’t just Baker Mayfield’s personal win

Baker Mayfield and the Bucs invited the Jets, and the quarterback torched their defenders as he threw for 233 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a season-high (and near career-best) 44 rushing yards. Mayfield called it a personal win. But he knows that it wasn’t a personal win just for him. The head coach, Todd Bowles, and Haason Reddick were in the mix as well.

Reddick, a two-time Pro Bowler, came to New York in spring 2024 via trade but sat out training camp over a contract dispute. The Jets fined him, his holdout dragged on, and eventually, they allowed him to request a trade. Of course, they later agreed to a reworked deal, but earlier in 2025, the linebacker signed a one-year contract with the Bucs.

As for Bowles? Same story. The Bucs’ HC had a long history with the Jets. He started his coaching gig with the New York team in 2000 and returned as the team’s HC in 2015. In his first year as the Jets’ HC, Bowles put up a strong outing, leading the Jets to a 10-6 record. But the next three seasons came out flat, and the Jets eventually decided to cut ties with him at the end of his four-year contract.

So yes, when Baker Mayfield said that the win was personal for a lot of people, you can bet he wasn’t just talking for fun.