After Tampa Bay’s 27-22 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the Week 8 Thursday night game on Oct. 27, Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean tried to take advantage of having the weekend off.

“Just stayed home and relaxed,” Dean said, “because after the game, I felt like I got hit by a bus.”

Dean probably could be speaking for the whole team.

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The loss to the Ravens was the Bucs’ third in a row and fifth in six games. Tampa Bay fell to 3-5 as its 2022 NFL regular-season schedule reaches its midpoint game on Sunday.

“We just got to go back to the fundamentals,” Dean said. “As the season goes on, you can tend to just lose it because you’re just so stuck on game-planning that you just lose track of the basics.”

Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl two seasons ago and posted 13 regular-season victories last year.

“I like challenges because it brings out a different character in you,” Dean said. “Adversity shows you who you are. When it comes, how do you respond to it?”

The Buccaneers will try to break their losing streak against the Los Angeles Rams, who visit Raymond James Stadium at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday. The game will be the fifth matching the Bucs and Rams since the start of the 2019 season even though they don’t play in the same division.

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“It feels like a rivalry game between us because every time we play against them, it’s always a close game,” Dean said, “so that’s pretty much the scenario going into this week. You know what type of game it’s going to be.”

In the teams’ previous meeting, Los Angeles’ 30-27 victory on Jan. 23 in an NFC Divisional Round game eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs. The Bucs had the Rams pinned at the Los Angeles 24-yard line with 35 seconds to play, when, as Dean said, “We gave up two passes to Cooper Kupp.”

The Los Angeles wide receiver had back-to-back receptions good for 20 and 44 yards to set up Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal on the game’s final play.

“That stuck with me the whole offseason,” Dean said. “That’s the last thing you remember. Now it was like, ‘How can I better myself to make sure I can help out even more?’”

Even more help is what Dean would like from the Buccaneers’ extensive injury list.

“It’d be nice to have everybody that went down,” Dean said. “But it’s always the next-man mentality. You can’t make no excuses because of injuries. That’s part of the game.”

One player expected back on Sunday for Tampa Bay is Dean’s former Auburn teammate and fellow starting cornerback for the Bucs, Carlton Davis.

A hip injury has kept Davis sidelined for the past two games. Although the injury report lists Davis’ game status as questionable, he was a full practice participant throughout the week.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time, trying to get back on track,” Davis said in an answer that could apply to his return but was about the team’s approach to its three-game losing streak. “Nobody’s immune to obstacles and not having the season go your way. It’s football, and we’re going to battle through it. …

“What are you going to do when you have an obstacle presented in front of you? Turn around and run away? No, you keep fighting, and we get back on track.”

Davis thinks he has an answer for what’s been ailing the Buccaneers.

“It’s just going out there, having fun, wanting to make plays and wanting to go out there and beat the guy in front of you, winning your one-on-one matchups,” Davis said. “When you win, that brings the juice. When you get stops, that brings the juice. When you make plays, that brings the juice.

“We got to focus on making plays, focus on being aggressive and focus on attacking.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.