The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Mayfield to team: ‘This one needs to sting’
The Browns aren’t wringing hands nor shrugging off what happened in Kansas City as a streak of bad luck.
The sky isn’t falling on the Browns just because a fourthquarter meltdown turned victory into defeat at the hands of the Chiefs in the season opener Sept. 12.
On the other hand, the team isn’t shrugging off what happened in Kansas City as a streak of bad luck, either.
The Browns led, 29-20, with 10:24 to play, but then the Chiefs made it a two-point game on one play — a 75-yard catch and run by Tyreek Hill on a pass from Patrick Mahomes.
Baker Mayfield was sacked on the first play after the Browns got the ball back. They were forced to punt for the first time without making a first down. Jamie Gillan dropped the snap, panicked and was tackled at the Cleveland 11, setting up the Chiefs for the winning touchdown.
The Browns had the ball two more times. One possession ended with a punt and the final one ended with Mayfield throwing an interception when he was trying to heave the ball out of bounds.
The image of a player in any locker room routinely standing, gathering the team around him and giving an impassioned speech is overblown. But it does happen sometimes, and Mayfield delivered a strong message to his teammates he hopes will carry over to Sept. 19 when the Browns host the Texans at 1 p.m. Sept. 19 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“You need to remember that, that all the little things matter and that’s how you need to approach this week of practice.”
—Browns QB Baker Mayfield on bouncing back after week one loss
“I think there’s a fine line of walking, beating yourself up about it and then realizing there are 16 more games,” Mayfield said before practice Sept. 15. “I think we should beat ourselves up about it because we feel like we should have won that game.
“My message to them was we’re going to be really good if we just do our jobs and continue to be efficient and move the chains and help out our defense by staying on the field. But this one needs to sting. You need to remember that, that all the little things matter and
that’s how you need to approach this week of practice.”
Linebacker Anthony Walker said Coach Kevin Stefanski and assistant coaches keep harping on the fact the Texans are 1-0 and the Browns are 0-1. Not that players need reminding, but the point is being repeated because heading into the season the Browns were viewed as a Super Bowl contender and the Texans were viewed as one of the worst teams in the league — maybe bad enough to earn the first pick in the 2022 draft.
“I see a group of guys (the Texans) who want to win, who play hard, who play together,” running back Nick Chubb said. “Despite things that have been said
about them, they’re ignoring the noise and they’re going out there and playing their butts off. So I see a team that’s excited to play and prove themselves.”
One of those Houston players is former Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who now starts for the Texans. The Browns traded a third-round draft pick to the Bills in 2018 for Taylor.
Former Browns coach Hue Jackson named Taylor the starter. There was no quarterback competition in training camp between Taylor and Mayfield, the rookie and first overall pick of the 2018 draft. But before halftime of the third game (against the Jets), Jackson benched Taylor and inserted Mayfield,
who started a week later against the Raiders in Oakland and has been the starter ever since.
“I think people took Tyrod for granted,” Mayfield said on Sept. 15. “He’s an extremely good leader. His work ethic alone, just his routine and being the same guy every day for every single person in the building is a tremendous way of showing his leadership.
“I’m very thankful to have stepped into a quarterback room with Drew Stanton and Tyrod and that I was able to learn from those guys.”
Taylor completed 21 of 31 passes for 291 yards and threw two touchdown passes with no interceptions in the Texans’ 37-21 victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 12.