As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare for their first home game of the 2025 NFL campaign on Sunday, they’re dealing with a number of injury issues.

But the team they’re facing this weekend is facing a bigger one. The New York Jets have announced that starting quarterback Justin Fields will be forced to miss Sunday’s game as he’s dealing with a concussion.

That means the Bucs’ defense will face 36-year-old backup Tyrod Taylor.

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Taylor hasn’t started an NFL game since 2023, when he went 2-3 with the New York Giants while Daniel Jones was dealing with an injury. Taylor is on his seventh team in 15 seasons after being the No. 180 overall pick in 2011 by the Baltimore Ravens. He won a ring as Joe Flacco’s backup in 2012.

Taylor was the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in 2018 when they drafted current Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield took Taylor’s starting job that season.

The former Virginia Tech standout started for the Bills in 2015 and earned his only Pro Bowl nod, then led Buffalo to its first playoff appearance in 18 seasons in 2017. Taylor was traded to Cleveland after the Bills drafted Josh Allen in 2018.

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Overall, Taylor is 28-28-1 as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Tampa Bay might be catching a break by facing Taylor instead of Fields, but they’ll be shorthanded themselves. Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey was ruled out for the rest of the 2025 season after tearing a pectoral muscle in Week 2’s win over Houston.

“An MRI just now confirmed #Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey tore his pec last night, source says,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo wrote on his official X account on September 15. “He will need surgery and his season is over.”

The team is also still without Vita Vea, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, and on Wednesday it was revealed that offensive lineman Cody Mauch will now miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

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