Mayfield working to get past 'worst loss that I have ever had'
Quarterback wants to be more patient, settle for check-down passes.
Baker Mayfield admits he BEREA— walks the line between sheer will and stubborn little commander.
He fell off the line as if off a cliff while landing in what he called a low point in his football life, a 38-14 loss to the Chargers this past Sunday.
He talks as if scaling the cliff and being Baker the touchdown maker is no sweat.
“That is the worst loss that I have ever had,” Mayfield said Wednesday, as the Browns prepare to play at Tampa Bay this Sunday. “You have to push forward and just have to do your job, and you will find out what this team is made of. It is never about the week before or if you win or lose — it is how you react from it. Coming off of a loss, we will really see what this team is made of.”
Mayfield completed 22 passes but threw 22 incompletions and two interceptions in his third Browns start, a 24-point loss.
A life worst?
When Mayfield was a Texas Tech freshman in 2013, the Red Raiders got roughed up 49-26 at home by Kansas State. He lost 63-34 at Baylor a week later.
There was very little losing to speak of after he became the starter
at Oklahoma. Setbacks were to 24-17 to Texas and 37-17 to Clemson in 2015, 33-23 to Houston and 45-24 to Ohio State in 2016, and 31-28 to Iowa State and 54-48 to Georgia in 2017.
This was different. He is the face of an NFL team now. What happened? Mayfield himself pointed to the line he walks as a player and leader.
He resisted treatment for an ankle injury suffered when he made an odd landing near the Chargers bench.
“Stubbornness not to go to the (medical) tent,” he said.
He resisted taking what a defense was giving him while he looked downfield.
“I’ve got to do a good job of finding my check-downs,” Mayfield said. “If they’re covering guys down the field, do that (check down), or make a play.
“We have shots in the game plan, but we have those shots for when they’re available. If it’s not there, then you’ve got to get down. Yeah ... that’s the nature of me trying to find a big play.”
Mayfield’s play took that dive against the No. 19 pass defense in the league. His next chance for redemption comes against the Bucs’ No. 32-ranked pass defense, which is getting gashed for 356.6 a game.
“They’ve had a change in coordinators,” Mayfield said, referring to Mike Smith being replaced by linebackers coach Mark Duffner on Monday. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ve got to be able to adjust.”
Part of Mayfield’s misery was a disconnect with Jarvis Landry. The team’s No. 1 receiver was targeted nine times and caught two passes for 11 yards. Last year as a Dolphin, Landry had six catches for 95 yards in a win over the Bucs.
“I’ll just be better for him,” Mayfield said with a shrug. “It’s simple. I wasn’t the accurate quarterback they drafted me to be. I’ll just fix that.”
The Chargers thought they threw off the rookie No. 1 overall pick by hemming him in the pocket. Another shrug.
“(Making plays from the pocket) is what I did in college,” Mayfield said. “When a play breaks down, yeah, I have been blessed with the ability to make plays. When it comes down to it, I was not drafted here to run around and do things with my feet.”
The Browns can get to 3-3-1 if they rebound, but Mayfield will have to rebound from the worst game of his life. There was a glint in his eye as he addressed the topic.
“I’m hard on myself,” he said, “but it’s not a ‘the world is ending’ mentality.”