Mayfield Ruled Out as Winless Buccaneers Face Cowboys on Thursday Night With Rookie Daniels Starting Again

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to end a nightmare start to their season Thursday night without their starting quarterback — and most of their defensive spine. Head coach Todd Bowles ruled out four players for the 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff at AT&T Stadium against Dallas: quarterback Baker Mayfield (thumb), safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (rib fracture, expected to miss two to four weeks), cornerback Benjamin Morrison (quad), and linebacker SirVocea Dennis (ankle/foot). Mayfield will miss his second consecutive game, and all four missed the entire short preparation week. That means rookie Jalon Daniels gets his second NFL start. The 23-year-old completed 19 of 27 passes for 148 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 17-14 loss to Green Bay last week, adding 55 rushing yards. It was another one-score defeat for Tampa Bay — all four of its losses this season have been decided by one score. Dallas is 2-2 after a 34-30 comeback win over Houston and enters as a heavy 8.5-point favorite on Prime Video. Tampa Bay at least gets kicker Chase McLaughlin back — Bowles confirmed the perfect-on-the-season kicker will play despite landing on the injury report with a hip/groin issue Tuesday. The Cowboys, meanwhile, will be without linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, officially ruled out after a week of missed practices.