What It Means:

The Buccaneers are only holding a walk-through session on Wednesday, but Bowles said Mayfield would have been held out of a real practice. He added that Kyle Trask will step in with the first team on Thursday if Mayfield is unable to participate. Bowles previously said Mayfield would play on Sunday, but he seems to be less confident on Wednesday. Trask would be a significant downgrade for the Buccaneers' offense in a game with the NFC South on the line.

numberFire's models project Mayfield for 15.0 FanDuel points in Carolina and he's the QB15 in our Week 18 rankings. The Panthers have allowed the fewest FanDuel points to quarterbacks this season because they tend to get beat on the ground. Their run defense is No. 29 in our opponent-adjusted efficiency rankings, while their pass defense is No. 23.