TAMPA, Fla. — To Baker Mayfield, the victories were fleeting. It’s the losses he has carried with him into the huddle this offseason.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 6-2 start dissolved into a 2-7 finish that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in six years.

Mayfield’s collapse, meanwhile, mirrored his team’s. One of the leading candidates for NFL MVP the first two months of the season after throwing 16 touchdown passes and only two interceptions, he tossed 10 TDS and threw nine picks the rest of the way.

What did Mayfield learn about himself?

“That I still hate losing more than I love winning,” Mayfield said after mandatory minicamp opened Tuesday. “That was the most frustrating thing. You know, some of those games we had won (were) based on the little details early in the season that we weren’t doing the same things in the back half of the year. Whether that’s attention to detail, not taking each meeting/install for granted and making sure no matter what point of the season it is, you’re over-communicating especially with different guys in there and making sure you’re talking about the little details, the timing. ...

“I learned that no matter what, I was fighting through a lot, but I was trying to be the same person each and every day. To me, that’s what a good leader does.”

No one has questioned Mayfield’s leadership skills. But last week, head coach Todd Bowles told the Tampa Bay Times that he wanted his quarterback to better protect himself from unnecessary hits on the field.

Mayfield, who turned 31 in April, appeared on the Bucs’ injury report 10 out of 18 weeks with issues that spanned his foot, toe, knee, right biceps, oblique and right shoulder.

“He can take a little bit better care of himself in certain situations,” Bowles said. “I understand when he’s a yard and a half or 2 from a first down, but not when it’s 10 yards or 8 yards from the first down when he can get up and live another day.”

But Mayfield pushed back — hard — on the notion that he needed to protect himself better.

“I’ve started every single game the last three years, so I don’t know if that should ever be a question,” Mayfield said.

That’s not to say Mayfield didn’t make some poor throws and worse decisions. His fourth-quarter interception against Atlanta in December cost the Bucs the game and likely a playoff spot.

“I think there were times where I tried to force the ball in certain situations,” Mayfield said. “There’s a lot of throws I wish I had back, don’t get me wrong on that. But in the flow of the game, you have to react, you have to trigger it and I’ve always played like that. Last year, some of those plays didn’t go my way.

“Moving forward, I’ve still got to be consistent for these guys each and every day and let the big boys handle it up front and go from there. I feel very comfortable where our defense is at and instead of trying to have to put up 30 each game, I feel really confident we’re going to have a really good D.”

Not that he wants to re-live it, but Mayfield’s 2025 season will be revisited in the documentary series “Quarterback,” which premiers July 14 on Netflix.

The last two years, Mayfield turned down an offer from producer and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning to be in the show.

“Turning it down the first few times I think for me was it seems like it’s a me, me, me thing and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be like that,” Mayfield said. “So talking to guys who have one it in the past, I mean, continuous conversations with Peyton Manning about how it’s really not that invasive. ... I hope that (it) gives an insight into the fact that I truly love this game, I love my teammates and I bust my ass.”

With No. 1 receiver Mike Evans signing as a free agent with the 49ers, Mayfield admits the passing game will look different. Fortunately, he believes he has more ways to solve the same problem.

“Chris (Godwin) looks really, really good right now. I’ve been training with him the whole offseason and J-Mac (Jalen McMillan) as well. Those guys have busted their tails. Chris looks like he’s back into pure form. J-Mac’s healthy and he looks great. At this point last year, unfortunately, he got hurt. Then obviously Emeka (Egbuka) taking those steps from Year 1 to Year 2. Tez (Johnson) obviously showed flashes last year and then Ted Hurst, you know, Cade (Otton), Payne (Durham), Bauer (Sharp), Ko (Kieft), Devin (Culp).

“We’ve got some weapons. It’s a luxury to have but for me it’s going through my reads and not trying to force it because with the system that we have and the guys that we have, somebody should be open.”

Mayfield said Tuesday that there’s no progress on a new contract with talks set to end at the start of training camp.

“It’s not going to affect how I approach this,” Mayfield said. “Things will happen when they should but for now, I’m worried about getting better each day, finishing minicamp and this offseason program the right way and going into training camp. So just handle it one day at a time.”

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