Baker Mayfield was back in the saddle again for the first heavy day of work for the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Cleveland Browns)
Baker Mayfield encouraged he’ll play after inflammation down in shoulder and range of motion improved
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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 …
The pendulum swung back to Baker Mayfield playing against Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“Absolutely … I expect completely to come back,” an upbeat Mayfield said Wednesday of the possibility of playing with a torn labrum and fracture of his humerus in his non-throwing left shoulder.
Mayfield said there was a “noticeable difference” in range of motion and strength in his left shoulder as the inflammation subsided over the mini-bye weekend. There wasn’t enough time in the short week prior to the Thursday night game against Denver for that to happen.
As for the small “dent” fracture in his humerus bone, which Mayfield disclosed to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports in an interview prior to the Denver game, Mayfield sounded unconcerned.
“I’m not exactly a doctor,” he said. “I don’t know how long it takes to heal. It’s mostly the inflammation so I can get that range of motion and strength back. That’s where we’re at.”
The risk of re-injury may be there until Mayfield has surgery to repair the torn labrum. He said doctors have spoken of surgery “down the road,” but there was no urgency to have it now or to shut down Mayfield for the season, even for a short-term stint on injured reserve.
“I am still taking [surgery possibility] day by day, to be honest with you, because you can do certain things to repair the stuff inside the rotator cuff and strengthen it up,” he said. “If you examine a lot of people’s shoulders, you will see a lot of partial tears in those labrums. You can do things to, I guess, help with that. We will evaluate that when the time needs.”
He said he is “completely confident” in being able to play through the injury and is mindful of doing things to protect himself, such as sliding when running with the ball and throwing it away when in harm’s way.
“If you go out there, you are scared and you are timid, that is how you really get hurt seriously,” Mayfield said. “I can’t do that. Like I said, trying to get the strength back and be able to go as close to 100 percent as possible. If that is not the case, then we trust the guys we have out there. You guys saw that. We came out with the win with kind of a manufactured team, and Case [Keenum] did a great job.”
Mayfield got his normal load of practice reps on Wednesday, with Keenum getting “some reps,” per coach Kevin Stefanski.
As long as Mayfield’s shoulder responds favorably over the practice week, it now appears Mayfield will get the opportunity to return to the field for the Browns’ first division game of the season and perhaps the last appearance of Browns-killer Ben Roethlisberger in Cleveland.
Hurt so bad
Mayfield was in a lot of physical pain when he tried to practice last Tuesday. But there was also the mental pain of the realization his 53-game starting streak was likely to end. He confirmed he was the last person convinced he would not play against the Broncos.
“For me, [the streak] was pretty important just because of looking at all of the disfunction that I had to overcome to be able to start the whole time, to stay healthy and do all of that,” he said. “That was very important to me, but that is an individual thing and it is more about winning than anything. We did just that last week and trying to do the same this week.
“That was the first game that I missed in eight years. Before that, I missed three total games in my life. Yeah, that was a tough decision because that is just not something I am about – I am not about missing practice or playing time. It is a long-term picture, and that is what everybody and the devil’s advocate other than my mindset. It is good to hear both sides and just evaluate it.”
Reinforcements coming
Running back Nick Chubb (calf) and right tackle Jack Conklin (knee) both talked optimistically of returning after missing the past two games.
Now it’s just a matter of them getting through the practice week.
If Chubb does return, and with Kareem Hunt (calf) still out for an indefinite period, it means Game 7 hero D’Ernest Johnson (146 rushing yards) will take Hunt’s role as the No. 2 back behind Chubb.
“You think he earned it? Yeah, he’s the No. 2,” Stefanski quipped.
It happens every fall
Stefanski wouldn’t rule any player out, but of the five players who did not practice on Wednesday, cornerback Denzel Ward (hamstring) may be one who doesn’t make it to Sunday’s game.
The biggest clue on this came from cornerback Greg Newsome. He spoke on the support he received from cornerback Greedy Williams during their training camp competition and during the two games Newsome missed with a calf injury.
“I think he handled it amazing,” Newsome said. “He’s been one of those mentors for me, too. Soon as I got here, we’ve been about healthy competition. We both want each other to succeed. When I went down, I knew he was going to be a guy to help me get back. He was encouraging me, things like that. And he’s been playing amazing too.
“Now he gets another chance this week to play a little more.”
The Browns have had two starting cornerback combinations so far – Ward and Newsome, and Ward and Williams. Now it looks like they’ll head into the important Pittsburgh game with Newsome and Williams.
Brownie bits
Other Browns who did not practice were defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (ankle, groin, knee), defensive tackle Malik Jackson (ankle), receiver Jarvis Landry (knee) and receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones (groin) …
Stefanski said Landry injured his knee on the last play of the Denver game before the final kneel-down. He said it was unrelated to the MCL injury which kept him out the previous four games.
