Kyle Trask opened up his fifth season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night with a strong performance against the Tennessee Titans in the 2025 preseason opener, starting the game and completing 12 of 16 passes for 129 yards and a 98.2 passer rating. He led the team to a 13-7 halftime lead in an eventual 29-7 victory.
Trask won't be starting a month from now when the Buccaneers open the regular season. He'll be in his third season as Baker Mayfield's primary backup after two years on a depth chart that included Tom Brady. But, after re-signing with Tampa Bay after finishing his rookie contract this past offseason, Trask is always one play away from being thrust into the starting role. All he can do on nights like this one against the Titans is work on his craft and show his coaches he's ready when needed.
"I'm just concerned about being the best that I can be," said Trask. "My whole thing my whole career is control what you can control. I wake up every single day and I try to be the best that I can be. I try to be the best that I can be at practice, my routine, whatever it may be. In a game, obviously. That's always been my focus and will continue to be my focus going forward."
The Buccaneers rested virtually all of their starters in the preseason opener, but that just created an opportunity for dozens and dozens of players on a 91-man camp roster to make their cases for roster spots and significant roles. That's the exact same thing that has been happening the last three weeks in training camp, but Saturday night was definitely a different kind of proving ground.
"The main thing Coach [Todd Bowles] said to us was, we want to see the plays…we've all made plays in practice but he wants to see can you go make them in a game-like scenario when the lights are on," said Trask. "I think a lot of guys were ready to go make plays with the lights [on], hearing that right before the game, knowing that's what the coach was looking for."
Trask started the game with a nifty 25-yard strike to second-year wideout Jalen McMillan down the left numbers. Two plays later, he found impressive rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka for 21 yards on a deep curl. Trask took another shot with Egbuka on a third-down go route and the young receiver nearly pulled it in with one hand, but it was incomplete. Still, the Buccaneers scored 10 points on his first two drives and, critically, there were no turnover-worthy plays.
"I thought I did a good job just staying within the rhythm of the game, trying to stay as consistent as possible," said Trask. "Not trying to do anything special – just play within the scheme. Try to limit the negative plays, don't turn the ball over and keep moving forward."
