Injuries, COVID, late-game failures and criticism from one famous teammate have made this a season of adversity for Baker Mayfield. (Cleveland Browns)
Baker Mayfield: There’s ‘no manual’ on handling the adversity of this 2021 season
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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 …
With injuries no longer the problem, Baker Mayfield is now facing questions about mental toughness, confidence in his game, and dealing with adversity such as 10 days in COVID protocol followed by arriving in Green Bay on the morning of the game.
“There’s been a lot of firsts for me this year,” Mayfield said. “That comes with the territory of the position I’m in. You have to handle it the best I possibly can. There’s no manual on how to handle this, and there hasn’t been, so it’s been one day at a time, trying to make the most of opportunities.
“It’s trying to find the positives around a lot of the negativity, whether it’s created by the outside or not. Realizing the things that matter and blocking out the rest.”
The latest: Mayfield’s wife, Emily, revealed in her Instagram story this week that Mayfield received death threats after four interceptions in the Green Bay game resulted in a 24-22 loss on Christmas Day.
“It’s hard for me to say [to my wife] not to listen to it because I have quite a bit of experience of hearing a lot of opinions on the outside coming in,” Mayfield said. “It’s hard when it comes down to somebody that you love, that you care about. She’s not able to change some of the outcomes to the games, or any at all.
“It’s just one of those things, we’re in a world today, [in a] society, there’s a lot of keyboard warriors that make empty threats. It’s quite honestly ignorant when they go after people that aren’t directly involved in football. When you talk about taking your own life, killing somebody, all that, to me that’s ignorance.
“I try not to listen to it because those are not the people I would listen to whether it was good or bad, regardless. It’s tough to tell your loved ones and your family not to defend you and look into that stuff. That’s just human nature. You have to realize your priorities are your family members and those are the opinions you listen to. It’s blown up to be a much bigger deal on the outside. It’s not like it’s anything new for us.”
Mayfield said he did not feel the need to inform team security about the threats to which his wife referred.
“It’s going be made to be a much bigger deal, as the media will do. It’s not that serious.”
Mayfield conceded it has been harder for him than ever to tune out the criticism this year.
“I’d say yes, but only because some of that drama earlier in the year was within the building and it wasn’t just directly outside,” he said. “We had to handle a few things internally. That’s OK. We did that and now we’re here and that’s all that matters.”
That apparently was a reference to Odell Beckham Jr.’s release following an anti-Mayfield video retweeted by Beckham’s father.
On top of everything, Mayfield’s failures to pull out victories in five games, including Green Bay, has put the Browns in position of hoping for two right outcomes on Sunday, followed by two Browns wins in their final two games.
So how’s his confidence level?
“I’ll be just fine. I’m not worried about that,” he said.
Is it over?
The Browns can’t wait to wave goodbye to December.
On Thursday, they activated off COVID/reserve defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, kicker Chase McLaughlin, cornerback Greg Newsome and center JC Tretter.
That left only five players still out with COVID: linebacker Tony Fields, linebacker Elijah Lee, and offensive tackle Alex Taylor from their regular roster; and quarterback Nick Mullens and safety Tedric Thompson on their practice squad.
With one day left in the month – (fingers crossed) -- they’ve seen 36 players and three coaches test positive for COVID-19 in December. As a result, they went 1-2 in games in December to lose control of their playoff destiny. Of course, they can still win the division with four things happening over the last two weeks, starting with losses by the Ravens to the Rams and the Bengals to the Chiefs on Sunday.
In total, the Browns placed 46 players on COVID/reserve this year, beginning with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on July 25.
On hold
The Browns’ last regular season game on Jan. 9 is scheduled for 1 p.m. But that may change.
It could be flexed to Saturday, or to Sunday at 4:20 p.m., or to Sunday at 8:15 p.m. According to a source, “Everything’s on the table,” although a flex to Saturday is unlikely.
It all depends on the outcomes of Rams at Baltimore and Chiefs at Cincinnati on Sunday. Although those outcomes don’t necessarily guarantee anything – the Browns still would have to beat the Steelers on Monday night – the league wants to showcase Browns-Bengals if it becomes a win-to-get-in situation for the AFC North title.
Brownie bits
The only players not on COVID/reserve who didn’t practice were defensive back Troy Hill (knee), running back Kareem Hunt (ankle), defensive tackle Malik Jackson (knee), safety John Johnson (hamstring) and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (illness, not COVID). Stefanski would not rule out any from Monday’s game …
The Browns’ lack of confidence in kicker Chris Naggar was made evident again when they released him and replaced him on the practice squad with Chris Blewitt signed to the practice squad and McLaughlin activated off COVID/reserve. Naggar missed his first PAT, but came back to make a 37-yard field goal and a subsequent PAT in the 24-22 loss in Green Bay. Blewitt’s only NFL experience came in two games with Washington in October. He made 2 of 5 field goals, with three of the attempts blocked …
Defensive end Myles Garrett participated in practice after being less than 100 percent in Green Bay because of a groin injury suffered against the Raiders. “He was not feeling 100 percent,” Stefanski said. “What that percentage was, I am not entirely sure, but he certainly was not the 100 percent version of Myles we have seen this season.” ...
Stefanski didn’t appear amused when asked about John Johnson’s ‘RUN THE DAMN BALL’ tweet during the Green Bay game. “That is something I will obviously keep internal. I am not on social media, and I would tell you the vast majority of it is just background noise,” Stefanski said.
