News and Notes: Lamar Jackson says the game is slowing down for him

If the teams had a do-over in the 2018 NFL Draft, Jackson would likely take Baker Mayfield's No. 1-overall spot instead of going No. 32.

Monday night's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be another chapter in the matchup between two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks from the same draft class.

Jackson is 6-2 against Mayfield as an NFL starter, with five of those wins coming against him when he was a Cleveland Brown and the last in 2022 when Mayfield was rehabbing his career with the Carolina Panthers.

Now Mayfield is with his fourth NFL team (he also had a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams) and, like Jackson, he's playing perhaps the best football of his career.

Mayfield leads the NFL with 15 touchdown passes and has the second-highest quarterback rating (109.4) – one spot ahead of Jackson. Mayfield's 1,489 passing yards ranks eighth in the league – one spot behind Jackson (1,529).

“He's a tremendous quarterback, he's been since college, ever since I've known him — even going back to the Heisman,” Jackson said. “I love his game. … From a distance, he's still the same baker. He's still going to make things happen [the Buccaneers]”

It's the third-straight game that Jackson will face against a Heisman Trophy winner, as Mayfield follows Jayden Daniels of the Commanders and Joe Burrow of the Bengals. Mayfield was asked if facing Heisman Trophy winners in Jackson and Derrick Henry adds motivation.

“I wouldn't say fuel,” Mayfield told reporters. “These guys are always fun to watch.”