Baker Mayfield will wear a glove on his right hand with a solid plate on the back to keep his once-dislocated thumb from bending the wrong way when he likely starts Sunday’s game at Carolina.

The fix required a little outside-the-batter’s box thinking and a helping hand from the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in Milwaukee preparing to face the Brewers in the World Series. Even with baseball’s biggest prize on their minds, the Rays found time for some neighborly help for the NFL team.

“(It’s) not restricting because it’s on the backside. ... For me, just getting used to it. I don’t feel the difference. It’s just like me wearing a glove,” Mayfield said.

The glove was the invention of Rays home clubhouse attendant Nick Bond, who took a receiver’s glove and ripped off the thumb while inserting a support. They made two versions: one with hard plastic and another as a soft cast.

“I said our guy can do anything. They worked together and kind of Frankensteined a glove together working with their trainers, Baker and Nick Bond,” said Rays home clubhouse/equipment manager Tyler Wall. “... (It’s) not hard enough to restrict the thumb but enough for protection. So he built a pocket around the thumb and inserted it. It worked pretty good.”

Mayfield said his goal was to return last Sunday against the Steelers, a game in which rookie free agent Jalon Daniels threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter and blew a 16-3 lead to lose 26-19 in overtime.

The Bucs are 1-5 entering Sunday’s game against the Panthers and they host Atlanta on Nov. 1, giving them an opportunity to crawl back into contention in the NFC South.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, left, will wait until Friday to name a starting QB for Sunday, but Baker Mayfield says he's ready.[ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ] Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said he would wait until Friday to officially name a starting quarterback. But barring some unforeseen setback, Mayfield said he will be prepared to play.

“I feel good. Just improving,” Mayfield said. “It’s been a process for me. You know, I never really missed time with injury. Not fun. You always want to be out there with your guys, but just doing the rehab process, doing it as much as possible each and every day.”

Mayfield was injured late in the fourth quarter of the Bucs’ 23-16 loss to Minnesota on Sept. 27. On fourth and 13 with less than two minutes remaining, he scrambled right and was hit by linebacker Blake Cashman as he threw a pass intercepted by Andrew Van Ginkel.

Since then, Mayfield has been serving as a coach on and off the field to Daniels, who managed to go 1-2 as a starter, beating the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football.

“Just trying to be an extra voice and over-communicate what we’re trying to get done with the scheme and whatnot,” Mayfield said of his role the past month. “I got to say this: I’m really proud of Jalon. I thought he was thrown into the fire there, three starts in a row, got a win on the second one which is prime time, which is huge. Just the guy he is, the huge progression from spring to training camp to here. Now he’s grown up a ton, and it was really fun to watch.”

But it’s tough to win in this league with a backup quarterback. As well as Daniels played at times, to say the Bucs are glad Mayfield will be back under center at Carolina is an understatement.

Not only is there a lot of verbiage in Zac Robinson’s offense, but Daniels had to make protection calls and check in and out of different plays at the line of scrimmage while having only three weeks in the NFL.

Bucs quarterback Jalon Daniels, left, chats with quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer, center, and Baker Mayfield during the second quarter of the Steelers game.[ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]“I think what’s hard to appreciate with Jalon is how hard the operation is. Like, especially on the road. There are checks on every play. There are protection checks. There are run checks. There are so many moving parts,” center Graham Barton said. “There’s cadence and there’s rhythm to the cadence and there’s so many levels just to get the ball snapped. There’s plays we all want back but he did a great job.

“Having Baker back is obviously a great addition. That’s why the Bucs paid him as much as they did. No one is super pumped about how the season has gone, but there’s opportunity in front of us.”

Baker said even with the injury, there’s nothing he can’t do.

“Truly, when you throw with the glove, you’ve just got to get used to it,” he said. “Just changing your release points. You can’t grip it as hard, because it will stick to the glove. Different things like that.

“It’s just getting a lot of reps, getting practice with it, getting used to it and it feels fine. But the training staff, the equipment guys ... they’ve done an incredible job helping me out to get where I’m at, and ready to practice and go.”

If Mayfield and the Bucs turn around their season, it will be thanks to a big assist from their Tampa Bay baseball brethren.

“I thought it was pretty neat how it worked out,” Wall said. “(Bond) went over there. They worked it out. He said, ‘Baker is one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever worked with.’ ... Baker is just so anxious to get on the field that it’s cool we were willing to be a part of it. It’s awesome.”

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Times staff writer Marc Topkin contributed to this report.

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