Mayfield beats himself up despite 3-1 start
Baker Mayfield was off Sunday. Then the Browns quarterback went off about it.
“I pride myself on being extremely accurate, and today I don’t know what the hell that was,” Mayfield said after Sunday’s 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Mayfield found himself in an awkward position after the game. The Browns improved to 3-1 for a second consecutive season, a first since they did it three years in a row from 1993-95. But Mayfield’s poor individual performance left a bad taste in his mouth after a huge road win. The defense, rushing attack and kicker Chase Mclaughlin compensated for Mayfield’s worst game of the season.
“[The defense played] good enough for us to win when I’m playing quarterback like that,” Mayfield said. “Thankful they played like that. That’s a really good offense [the Vikings have], so for [our defense] to play lights out like that, we’re lucky to have them on our side.
“I have to pick it up because if I think that poor performance is going to cut it, it’s not. So I’ll get better, but luckily we can lean on those guys and run the ball when we need to.”
Mayfield finished 15-of-33 passing (45.5%) for 155 yards without a touchdown or an interception. He posted a rating of 59.5, rushed twice for 11 yards and took three sacks against the Vikings (1-3).
“Just didn’t get into a rhythm,” he said. “There’s a lot of easy throws there that I think missed.”
Is something physically wrong with
Mayfield?
After all, he suffered a left, nonthrowing shoulder injury Sept. 19 in a 3121 win over the Houston Texans. “It’s attached,” he said. “I’m all right.” Asked whether the injury had anything to do with his uncharacteristic accuracy woes, Mayfield said, “Nah, it’s my left shoulder. Throw with my right.”
The crux of Mayfield’s message is the
Browns won’t win nearly often enough if he continues to struggle. They’ll visit the Los Angeles Chargers (2-1) on Sunday, and Mayfield knows he can ill afford to slump in a season of Super Bowl expectations while he simultaneously plays for a contract extension for which meaningful talks have yet to heat up.
The Browns defense can’t realistically hold the opponent to single-digit points every week, even though it has in the past two games, a first since 1995.
“When our defense plays like that, they bailed us out,” Mayfield said. “So we’ll take a win — no doubt about that. [Improving to] 3-1 is nice, but we’re on to our next challenge, and the Chargers are pretty damn good.”
In Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s postgame news conference, he took responsibility for Mayfield’s problems.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys open,” Stefanski said.
The truth is Mayfield missed open targets. He was visibly frustrated after he overthrew wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on a deep route on third-and-5 from the Cleveland 38-yard line. Instead of running out the clock, the Browns had to punt with 1:08 left to play and needed one last defensive stand to win. Receiver Rashard Higgins led the Browns in catches (four) and receiving yards (63). Beckham had just two catches on seven targets for 27 yards.