March visit helped coach understand Mayfield
Before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted shutdowns throughout the United States, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski traveled to meet Baker Mayfield in the quarterback’s hometown of Austin, Texas.
Stefanski revealed the rendezvous took place when he spoke to Browns beat writers Friday during a Zoom video conference.
Hired Jan. 12 as a first-time head coach, Stefanski has been impressed with Mayfield’s approach ever since their initial in-person introduction, including during the early stages of training camp.
“He’s doing a very nice job,” Stefanski said. “I went down to see Baker in March prior to everything going crazy. So that was really our first time to get in person and talk about life and get to know each other, if you will, down in Austin. So from that moment until now, I’ve been very impressed with Baker.
“He is all ball. He understands his role. He understands what we want him to do in this offense. He’s doing it on the field. Just watching him get through the cadence and kind of line people up, very impressed with it. I know [General Manager] Andrew [Berry] mentioned the shape [Mayfield] came in, and it’s really impressive. He did a nice job, and that just doesn’t happen. There’s a lot of work that goes into that, and he clearly has done the work.”
On Tuesday, Berry said Mayfield “added four pounds of lean mass, cut body fat, came back in terrific shape” when the 2018 first overall draft pick reported to training camp July 24.
Mayfield was off in 2019, when he threw 22 touchdowns against 21 interceptions, second-most in the NFL. His completion percentage (59.4) and passer rating (78.8) ranked next to last.
His physique. His footwork. His accuracy. His overall performance. None of it matched what it had been the previous year, when he set a single-season NFL record for touchdown passes by a rookie with 27.
The Browns underachieved and finished 6-10 a year after they went 7-8-1 and appeared to be headed in the right direction with a young franchise quarterback.
Stefanski, the former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator, realizes Mayfield is the No. 1 key to unlocking the potential of the ultra-talented roster the new regime inherited. Stefanski also knows how important the head coach-quarterback relationship is to a franchise.
The pandemic forced the NFL to implement a virtual offseason program, so Stefanski didn’t meet most of his players in person until this past weekend, when veterans began their training camp physicals at team headquarters in Berea.
At least Stefanski and Mayfield were able to build a foundation during their visit in March. It happened just before Stefanski could have had any idea how much COVID-19 would change everyday life in the U.S. He called the timing “very fortunate” and the Mayfield family gracious hosts.
“I just felt like it was important for me to sit face to face with him, meet his family and kind of get to know each other,” Stefanski said. “That’s something that I will continue to do. That was the charge going back to March, and even now, the charge is we have to get to know each other real quick. We want to come together as a team, and part of that is we really have to work.
“I have to work hard and our coaches, our players have to work hard at getting to know each other in a bunch of different ways so that we can come together and get ready to go.”
As part of their COVID-19 protocols, the Browns split the team into two groups for their strength and conditioning activities early in training camp. Stefanski said the players are off today and will combine to form one group beginning Sunday.