The heat is on Baker Mayfield after another bad game in Pittsburgh.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
On their Tuesday day off, the Browns were assaulted by barbs and brickbats locally for their oh-so-typical woeful effort in Pittsburgh.
National pundits reserved their ire for Baker Mayfield.
The quarterback officially entered “embattled” status after adding his three worst quarters of football to the two worst ones in the second half against the Colts the previous Sunday.
The national analytics experts are particularly annoyed with Mayfield, perhaps because they practically had him headed for Canton based on his collegiate algorithms.
Mayfield’s steep decline has blown fuses in the offices of Pro Football Focus, whose experts are now telling anyone with a microphone or podcast that it’s time to panic about Mayfield as Browns starting quarterback.
Doesn’t matter that Mayfield is enjoying the winningest season of his three in the NFL. In the vernacular of 2020, Mayfield’s analytics numbers have plunged from red to purple, and the numbers guys are doing a heel turn on him.
Other attacks on Mayfield came from the national talking heads debating on endless reel that Mayfield is the weak link holding back a star-studded offensive lineup. Some suggested that receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry should get out of Cleveland right now to save their careers.
Try as they may to get “on to Cincinnati,” the putridity left in Pittsburgh had to be addressed on the Wednesday Zoom calls. All of which made for quite a memorable day of quotes.
“I would say the feeling throughout the building after that loss, 4-2 has never felt so much like 0-6 before.” – Mayfield
He was speaking of the mood of the team. Inside the building. Not the mood of the city and global fan base.
But Mayfield’s description did not jibe with those of coach Kevin Stefanski and center JC Tretter, however, and may reflect the weight on his shoulders to turn around his game while the new football operations department that did not draft him ponders his fifth-year contract option.
“Maybe he felt the mood on the Zoom call.” – Stefanski
“I think it was [Bill] Parcells who said, ‘You are what your record says you are.’” – Stefanski
“I think on the outside it has been kind of a weird three days with how this team is looked at from post-Indianapolis to post-Pittsburgh … We put four good games together, and then we drop the ball against Pittsburgh … Nothing changes from where we were two weeks ago to this week. We are the same team.” – Tretter
They are right, of course. But Stefanski’s treatment of the Pittsburgh game as just another game on the schedule surely backfired. 0-1 never felt as bad as 0-17 in Pittsburgh.
Consider the comments made by Kareem Hunt and Beckham.
“[I] saw a team that came ready to play and some things we definitely need to work on as a whole. That is all.” – Hunt
“[I] could say a bunch of things [about coming out flat], but we have moved on. We are ready for the next game.” – Hunt
“I do not really know if you can get a sense of [coming out flat]. I kind of was saying it all game long in Pittsburgh, I am like ‘This is one of those games you have to bring your own energy. This is dead. It is dead.’ There is no other way to explain it. The interception in the first quarter was like ‘Thank you. I needed it.’ I needed to be ticked off. The energy just was not there. Whether it was flat or whatever it was, I just feel like we did not come out as fired up as they did, and it showed throughout the rest of the game.” – Beckham
“Also for me, the biggest thing is I think it is important for everyone to understand to have a mentality that we should never lose a game. Even if we are down 21 points in the first quarter, it is not like you should pack it in and get ready for next week. The mentality should be to win this game, and that is the only focus is to win the game that is in front of us and to win the day that is in front of us. That is the plan for this Wednesday is to win the day.”—Beckham
As for the criticism waged on Mayfield, he was more under siege on Tuesday from coast to coast than on Sunday from Pittsburgh’s front seven.
“I do not give a damn what they say. It is within this building. We know we can do better. I know I can do better. That is how it is going to be handled. The outside noise does not matter. They get paid to talk. We get paid to do our work. That is how it is going to be handled.” – Mayfield
No doubt, Mayfield’s teammates will circle the wagons around their embattled field leader.
“I think Baker is fine. He is a pro. He is a good football player. Not worried at all about him and how he responds.” – Tretter
“This is not about any one person. We all have to play better and raise our level. I know Baker is somebody who will do that and who is capable of doing that, as we all have.” – Tretter
“We have Baker’s back. Baker is an awesome quarterback and awesome teammate. Definitely going to have his back no matter what.” – Hunt
“I think he is going to come out fired up. I think he has always been inspired the negativity, the doubt and the haters. We will see on Sunday how he responds. It is not about what happened to you. It is about how you respond. I am sure he is ready to go and he is fired up. The worst part about is you have to wait till Sunday.” – Beckham
On a final note regarding Beckham being sent home last week “out of an abundance of caution” against Covid-19 after reporting flu-like symptoms.
Beckham couldn’t beat the Steelers, but he feels confident that the coronavirus wants nothing to do with him.
“I just do not think Covid can get to me. I do not think it is going to enter this body. I do not want any parts of it. It does not want any parts of me. I think it is a mutual respect.” – Beckham