Browns can’t turn back now; it’s Baker’s team
Rookie QB likely to supplant Taylor as starter after Thursday night’s rally.
“That’s why we drafted him. We drafted him for that reason. He has that magnetism. He has it. He’s still a young player. He has a lot of work to do. He’s got to keep working.” — Browns coach Hue Jackson on Baker Mayfield
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield had his coming-out party in Thursday night’s 21-17 come-from-behind victory over the New York Jets, and there’s no turning back.
Mayfield must be the starting quarterback from here on out, and there shouldn’t be even a moment of hesitation on that decision.
Coach Hue Jackson wasn’t ready to make that announcement right after the victory, likely out of respect for Tyrod Taylor, who was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the second quarter. But it’s as obvious as the stripes on the Browns’ helmets: Mayfield is the man, and the time is now, beginning with the game in Oakland on Sept. 30.
“That’s why we drafted him,” Jackson said after the game. “We drafted him for that reason. He has that magnetism. He has it. He’s still a young player. He has a lot of work to do. He’s got to keep working. Tonight is his night. It was his coming-out party . ... Baker did some good things tonight. He truly did.”
Mayfield came off the bench with 1 minute, 42 seconds left in the half and the Browns trailing 14-0 on two Isaiah Crowell touchdown runs, and he lifted the team and the town to a long-awaited victory for the first time in 20 games and 635 days. Beer coolers popped open all over the city, and fans hugged and high-fived in the stands. Mayfield made it rain joy and happiness in Browns Town for the first time in forever.
To make it even more special, it happened in a nationally televised NFL Network game against fellow rookie Sam Darnold, whom most in the football world thought the Browns were poised to take No. 1 instead of letting him go No. 3 to the Jets.
Jackson declined to say whether he would’ve put Taylor back in the game in the second half had he been cleared from his concussion. He did so in the dress rehearsal game against the Eagles when X-rays on Taylor’s wrist were negative.
Taylor “got hurt,” said Jackson. “Let’s not talk about if I would have or would not have. Baker played great, and he won the game. That’s what’s important.”
So why didn’t the Browns start Mayfield right off the bat against the Steelers? It’s conceivable they’d be 3-0 by now instead of 1-1-1.
“I still stand by the decision,” Jackson said. “I think it was right. I still think he needed the time to see and understand the National Football League and how it works. We’re better served — I can’t tell you that Baker would have performed like that in Week 1. The way he works, the time he spends, it’s been invaluable for him.
“That’s all I ever said about Baker — when we stick him out there, he was going to play well, and I truly believe that tonight was his coming-out party.”
Jackson said there wasn’t much about Mayfield that surprised him Thursday night — not the accuracy, big throws, poise or improvising. Not even catching the two-point conversion pass from Jarvis Landry to tie the game at 14 in the third quarter in a left-handed version of the “Philly special.”
During one-on-one meetings in Jackson’s office, the coach often presents Mayfield with scenarios and asks how he’d handle them.
“He normally looks at me and goes, ‘Coach, basically, are you kidding me? I’m going to go out there and play my tail off,’” Jackson said. “That’s what he did. He’s a tremendous football player.”
Jackson couldn’t help but throw a little shade at all the critics in the room who panned the Mayfield pick after the draft.
“Are you guys surprised?” he said. “I’m laughing because at one time people said, ‘Whoa, we shouldn’t have drafted him.’ Now, everybody says, ‘Dang, he can really throw.’ In general, when we took him, it was ‘he was too small, he could not throw this and could not throw that.’ Now, ‘Dang, look at the throws that he makes.’ I’m not surprised by any throws that this young man makes.
“I told you guys, he does things in practice that I just go, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ Timing. Timing is everything. The right time. The right situation. You can’t deny the talent. You can’t deny what he is able to do. He showed that tonight.”
Jackson acknowledged that the game changed on a dime when Mayfield came in.
“It felt like it was moving quicker,” he said. “It felt like that position was playing quicker. Seeing things very clearly, and the ball was coming out of his hand.”