The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mayfield clears air with Giants QB Jones
Baker Mayfield is not going to stop speaking his mind just because he was burned by what he says is an out-ofcontext remark in a story that grabbed national headlines.
The Browns’ 24-year-old quarterback came across as a jerk, at least to some, in a GQ story published Aug. 20 in which he said “it blows my mind” the Giants took quarterback Daniel Jones from Duke with the sixth pick of the 2019 draft. Jones was 1719 as a starter in college.
Two paragraphs later, after the story’s author writes he is “mystified” why NFL executives have such difficulty predicting which college quarterbacks will succeed, Mayfield is quoted saying:
“Some people overthink it. That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”
The way the quotes are arranged makes it seem as though the “They forget you’ve gotta win” quote is a shot at Jones. But Mayfield said that isn’t the way things transpired. After practice Aug. 21 in Berea he said he reached out to Jones to set things straight.
“This is the one and only time I’ll address this issue because that interview was done back in April, like right after the draft,” Mayfield said. “Things were taken out of context … People, they combine sentences from different conversations.
“It seemed very disrespectful, and I can understand that, but what people didn’t realize is the conversation entailed me saying I was surprised that I was No. 1 overall, too (to the Browns in 2018), me going on a rant after that about QB evaluation, and then, my frustration from recruiting processes and stuff that I’ve had. It’s very welldocumented my thoughts on a lot of that. It had nothing to do specifically about Daniel, about the winning and stuff.”
Mayfield admitted saying he was surprised the Giants used the sixth pick in the draft on Jones, but he wanted Jones to know he did not connect that opinion to remarking a quarterback has to win.
Mayfield is friends with Giants running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Sterling Shepard. Mayfield connected to Jones via text through them.
“To me, that came back on my character,” Mayfield said. “That’s one thing that … I don’t care about a lot of opinions, if you like me or not, but that looked like my character was way out of line, and so, that’s the only reason I addressed it.
“(Jones) was very nice. Everything that people have said about him, he was cordial, he said ‘no worries, man.’ Because I know Saquon and Sterling and a couple of guys over there as well. So I think that’s the good thing about having people around the league that you know. Whatever’s on the outside, people can have their opinions, but when it comes down to it, I’ve worked with some people and they know how I am inside the building and who I am as a person.”
So because of this incident will Mayfield pull back if he has something to say?
“No. Absolutely not. No,” Mayfield said. “If I had a problem with someone, I’m pretty sure I’ve made it very clear that I have a problem with someone, which is why I addressed it.”
Mayfield was talking about the GQ article at the moment. Back in June minicamp, Mayfield was asked about running back Duke Johnson demanding a trade. He did not give a politically correct answer.
“Obviously, you know he’s going to handle stuff how he wants,” Mayfield said. “You’re either on this train or you’re not. It’s moving. You can get out of the way or you can join us. It is what it is.”
Johnson is not on the Browns’ train. He suffered a hamstring injury early in training camp and on Aug. 8 was traded to the Texans for a 2020 fourth-round pick. It will become a third-round pick if he is active for 10 games. The hamstring injury was real, by the way. Johnson practiced on Aug. 20 for the first time with the Texans.
Coach Freddie Kitchens said he isn’t surprised Mayfield reached out to Jones. Kitchens also said the perception of Mayfield going off half-cocked is inaccurate.
“I think definitely, without a shadow of a doubt,” Kitchens said. “If you have a perception of someone and they say something that can be interpreted a certain way that would benefit your perception of that person, then of course you’re going to perceive that that’s that. There isn’t going to be a benefit of the doubt any other way.”
Mayfield is not looking for a benefit of any doubt.