Buccaneers Rookie QB Jalon Daniels Embraces 'Thermostat' Mentality for First Start

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Jalon Daniels is set to make his first career start Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, stepping in for an injured Baker Mayfield. Mayfield is expected to miss at least three weeks with a dislocated right thumb.

Daniels, a former Kansas Jayhawks star, spoke to reporters Wednesday about his approach to his NFL debut. He shared a new adage he plans to live by: "You can't be the thermometer, you have to be the thermostat." He elaborated, explaining the importance of a quarterback setting the emotional temperature of the team rather than just reacting to it. "If a team is low, I have to be able to pick it up to be able to make sure that they're even. If we're high, then I have to be able to be low to be able to make sure that we're even. I try to be as even-keel as possible. I think that being able to go out there and have that even-keeled feel, the team around you feels that."

The Buccaneers (2-1) face the prospect of falling to 0-4 if they lose to the Packers. Coach Todd Bowles emphasized that the team's success relies on more than just Daniels.

"For us, it's just trying to get a win," Bowles said. "(Jalon Daniels) is not playing by himself. Everybody has to do their job. We've got to coach it the right way on both sides of the ball, including special teams. He's got to play and just do his job."

Bowles added, "We've got 21 other guys that (are) going to be out there playing with him, so he's not by himself. It's (a) nervous (feeling) but it's exciting at the same time because you get to see somebody play. No matter where you come from, your first NFL game has to come at some point, whether you're a first-round pick or whether you're a free agent. You've got to touch the field for the first time at some point, and then you've got to play. He's just got to play."

Daniels also received advice from Mayfield. "He simply put it as: you've been dreaming of this opportunity, just stay composed, play as yourself," Daniels said. "Don't try to be anybody else besides you, and go out there and just go make football plays."