TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' task of trying to go 3-0 for the first time since 2005 just became a whole lot tougher this week as they prepare for their home opener against the New York Jets.
Not only did starting right tackle Luke Goedeke aggravate a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve this week, but right guard Cody Mauch, their second-round draft pick in 2023, suffered a season-ending knee injury.
That's on top of defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, their first-round draft pick in 2023, being lost for the season because of a pec injury. And All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs is still working his way back from offseason knee surgery, along with wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. still working his way back from ankle surgery, and wide receiver Jalen McMillan is out until at least the bye week because of a neck injury.
Mauch's injury flew under the radar. Even his teammate, lineman Ben Bredeson, didn't realize Mauch was injured in the Bucs' 20-19 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday night.
"He finished the game. We flew back together and then I got word a little bit later on," said Bredeson, who moved from starting left guard to starting center after the preseason when Graham Barton moved out to left tackle because of Wirfs' injury.
"I think that speaks to Cody's toughness that he was out there battling through it in a two-minute drive in the end to win a game," Bredeson said. "We ended up running the ball right behind him on that last play, and [Rachaad White] popped it in there. So if anything, that's a huge testament to Cody."
And it's a testament to a Bucs team that has shown a lot of resilience in the first two weeks of the regular season, a season marked by two come-from-behind victories in the final two minutes of regulation after allowing touchdowns on the opening drives. They're the first team since the 1970 merger to score game-winning touchdowns in the final 60 seconds of regulation to win each of their first two games of a season.
"It just shows our grit and our toughness," said wide receiver Ryan Miller, who scored the team's first touchdown of the game. "It's a testament to us. We got a lot of dogs on this team, a lot of good players. We stepped up when the moment wasn't too big for us, and we came out with wins."
In many ways, they're the embodiment of their leader, quarterback Baker Mayfield, who said this week when asked about some jawing Monday with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, "We don't take any s---. That's about it."
Can you blame Mauch for playing on one leg with that type of leader, who is responsible for five of the team's six third-down rushing conversions this season, a mark which ties them for second in the league? Bredeson can't.
"There's no one I'd rather follow in a two-minute drill," Bredeson said of Mayfield. "He goes in with the utmost confidence and on fourth-and-10, is able to get out of something like that, scramble, get us a first down, pop up and lead the troops right down the field."
The same for Charlie Heck, who stepped in for Goedeke with 1:55 to go in the first quarter and delivered a key block on White's game-winning 2-yard touchdown run.
"It helps so much," Heck said of Mayfield's leadership. "He does a great job getting the ball out. He does a great job getting the O-line where we're supposed to go. And he's a battler. I mean you saw those scrambles he made in that game. I mean those essentially won the game for us."
Mayfield called the team a "mentally tough group" and attributed their early success this season to guys "being on the same page in chaotic moments."
He added that the resilient culture was in place before he arrived, a product of a team that won a Super Bowl under Tom Brady, with several core pieces like Wirfs, Godwin, wide receiver Mike Evans, linebacker Lavonte David, safety Antoine Winfield Jr., defensive tackle Vita Vea, cornerback Jamel Dean and outside linebacker Anthony Nelson still on the roster.
"The level of play, what's expected of this offense, and from the guys that were here for the Super Bowl run [and] just the culture they had set in -- it doesn't matter who's in there, we're supposed to go out there and execute," Mayfield said. "When I stepped in here, it's been the same. You have new faces and turnover every year, but when your veterans and your leaders that have been here their whole career are setting the standard every day, guys have to live up to it."
How they navigate that with dwindling numbers -- and you can throw in rookie Emeka Egbuka, who is now dealing with a groin/hip injury, forcing him to miss practice this week and leaving his status unknown for Sunday -- will certainly say a lot about how far Mayfield and this team can go this season.
"The thing about this game is, injuries are a part of it," Miller said. "Guys are going to go down, but the name of the game is, guys gotta step up. I did that in my career. I hate to see those guys go down, and prayers to all the injuries that we've had, but guys gotta step up -- and that's just what we've gotta do."