Talkin’ about practice! Browns can’t do it

CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield hasn’t thrown a football in four days. The Browns haven’t practiced this week.

Cleveland’s return to the NFL playoffs feels cursed.

For the second straight day, the team’s headquarters and training facility stayed closed due to a COVID-19 flare-up that has knocked coach Kevin Stefanski out of Sunday night’s game in Pittsburgh and wreaked havoc on the

Browns’ preparations.

There seemed to be a possibility the wild-card game could be moved back after Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer, told NFL Network “there was some spread from one individual to another” among the Browns.

However, a league spokesman said Thursday there “is no change to the status of the game” at Heinz Field.

As his first postseason appearance draws near, Mayfield said he’s been doing all he can at home to get ready.

“A lot of band and bodyweight stuff,” the quarterback said. “Doing a lot of walkthrough of my footwork and trying to tie those in together. Just getting up, moving around like we potentially could. Everybody’s setup is different, and that is how it was in the offseason, so you have to find a way to get the most out of it and do it safely.”

The Browns and their die-hard fans waited almost 20 years to feel playoff excitement again, and it’s been doused by forces beyond their control.

Still, Mayfield said he and his teammates will do all they can to represent themselves well in the wild-card game — their second matchup with the rival Steelers in eight days.

“There are no excuses, but luckily, we just played them last week so it is not like we are practicing against a whole new defense,” Mayfield said. “We have to be ready for the wrinkles, but luckily, we have game-planned against these guys and everybody is sitting here in the second-week-in-a-row preparation for the Pittsburgh defense.”

Wide receiver Jarvis Landry echoed Mayfield, saying the Browns have to deal with the circumstances as best as they can.

“Practice is a big part of everything that we do and understanding that, but at the same time, it is 2021 and it feels like 2020 still and everything is still so unexpected,” Landry said.