The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayfield ready for mad Bengals
Quarterback has no regrets about calling Jackson ‘fake,’ ready for Bengals to come to FirstEnergy Stadium pumped up and angry
The game between the Browns and Bengals on Dec. 23 at FirstEnergy Stadium is growing into a stare-down between Baker Mayfield and Hue Jackson.
Jackson, fired as Browns head coach on Oct. 29, joined the Bengals coaching staff on Nov. 13 with the title of special assistant to the head coach. Twelve days later, Mayfield threw four touchdown passes
to lead the Browns to a 35-20 drubbing of the Bengals in Cincinnati.
The Browns rookie quarterback didn’t want to speak with Jackson when Jackson wanted to shake his hand after the game, and the next day Mayfield called Jackson “a fake” on Instagram.
So here we are. The Browns and Bengals meet again four weeks later in the Browns’ home finale. The Browns are 6-7-1 overall, 4-2-1 at home, and they expect FirstEnergy Stadium to be packed with their own loyal fans — no more of this business where 60 percent of the patrons are cheering for the other team.
Many of those fans are blaming Jackson (the Browns were 2-5-1 when he was fired) for the Browns likely falling just short of the playoffs this season.
“No. I said what I said,” Mayfield said after practice Dec. 19 in Berea when asked whether his feelings toward Jackson have changed. “It’s another week. We have to hit the reset button. We have to be able to come in, be able to block out the distractions, block out the outside noise like we have week to week every time this season and be able to do our job.”
Mayfield was asked whether he and Jackson spoke in the days following Mayfield’s “fake” observation and answered with a mysterious “no comment.” He said he would not be surprised if the Bengals have a little extra juice on Dec. 23 to defend Jackson’s honor. Though Jackson has been with the Bengals only a short while this time, he was an assistant to head coach Marvin Lewis twice before and is well-liked by the Cincinnati players.
“It’s all right,” Mayfield said. “Football is an angry, violent game. If you play anything but pissed off, I don’t think you’re doing it right.”
The Bengals are 6-8. They snapped a five-game losing streak last week when they beat the Oakland Raiders, 30-16.
Lewis, in danger of being fired at the end of the season, threatened to end his Dec. 19 conference call with reporters covering the Browns when asked about the feud between Mayfield and Jackson.
“There isn’t anything about Hue and Baker in this call,” Lewis said. “We’re going to talk about the Browns and the Bengals. Other than that, I guess we’re done.”
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who next month will play in his first Pro Bowl, like Mayfield, isn’t worried about the Bengals having a vengeful attitude in Part Two of the Battle of Ohio.
“You’ve got to go out there and prove it,” Garrett said. “You’ve got to go out there and show it. You can be motivated all you want and still get your butt whooped. It’s about executing.”
If the Browns win, they will assure themselves of finishing no worse than third in the AFC North and at the same time lock the Bengals in the division cellar. The Browns have finished last in the AFC North seven straight years.