Without former Washington Huskies tight end Cade Otton, who missed the game with an injury, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield relied heavily on another former Husky, wide receiver Jalen McMillan, on Sunday Night Football.
Although the Buccaneers lost 26-24 to the Dallas Cowboys, McMillan continued to show that he could be an integral part of offensive coordinator Liam Coen’s passing game moving forward. He finished his night with 5 catches for 57 yards and a touchdown, his fourth score in the last three weeks and his fifth of the season.
The score came on an impressive sliding catch just before halftime, where Mayfield found the rookie while rolling to his right from 11 yards away to cut Dallas’ lead to 20-14.
“That’s how we practice it,” McMillan said after the game. “It was just a zone route and there was a big hole that they left in the middle and I settled, and Baker just dotted it up for me.”
NBC’s broadcast crew sang McMillan’s praises throughout the night, and according to color commentator Cris Collinsworth, Buccaneers All-Pro receiver Mike Evans called the third-round pick the best rookie route runner he’s ever seen.
In the fourth quarter, Mayfield took a deep shot for McMillan in the end zone but slightly underthrew him, and the rookie, who had to slow down and come back for the ball, had it wrestled away by Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis.
“I went over the defender to try and catch it, I had it, but as we fell he just made a good play and ripped it away from me,” McMillan said. “Props to him, you can’t really get everything but I wish I had that back.”
After a slow start to the season, McMillan has come on very strong in recent weeks and is up to 27 receptions for 336 yards and 5 touchdowns in his first NFL campaign.