Did Baker Mayfield take ZYN on sidelines? Fans speculate after Bucs QB's actions go viral during Ravens clash

Baker Mayfield may have become the latest NFL player to be seen using ZYN nicotine pouches. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football and lost 31-41 despite Mayfield's 370 yards and three touchdowns. The Buccaneers also lost top wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to injuries during the game.

Just before the second half began, ESPN's cameras caught Mayfield popping what fans claimed to be a ZYN nicotine pouch:

That led to all sorts of mockery:

"May be he is tired of the team," one inferred.

"What's the stress for?" another demanded.

"It’s now proven that zyning is sinning," another joked.

More responses can be seen below:

"What a legend," one declared.

"Bro so buzzed he can’t make a throw," another claimed.

"Modern day Len Dawson," one user compared.

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ZYN has been very frequently used in the NFL

Mayfield is not the only NFL player to be seen using ZYN in 2024. Last week, a keen-eyed observer found that tackle Lane Johnson had brought a pack of the nicotine pouches with him to the locker room when his Philadelphia Eagles played the Cleveland Browns.

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen also revealed in a preseason video that he had taken to using the pouches:

According to a 2015 investigative piece by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, smokeless tobacco products like nicotine pouches are usually used to help players maintain concentration during film sessions, which include watching and discussing plays, which often becomes boring. The NFL bans its usage only on the field but does not regulate its consumption in team facilities.

Former defensive end Phillip Daniels said about such proliferation:

"I don't think the NFL cares much because it's all done behind the scenes. It's not a PR issue."

Then-Cleveland Browns manager Phil Savage, meanwhile, claimed that the use of tobacco was also very widespread among non-players, "from high-profile coaches down to low-level staffers."

Another ex-Brown, former punter Spencer Lanning, believes that the habit can originate as early as college. He also added that never in his career was he on a team with less than 75% of its players as users.

And finally, then-Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Randy Fichtner admitted to struggling to, at the very least, control the habit. He said:

"I wouldn't support it or tell these cats to do it because it's not healthy for them. But a lot of guys don't drink or drink coffee during the season, so maybe they feel this helps them, gives them a pick-me-up."

At the time the piece was written, ZYN was barely a year old, having been founded in 2014.