Baker Mayfield's fate most likely was sealed in a humiliating loss to the Steelers in his last game for the Browns. (USA Today)
Browns’ defense’s attitude about playing Baker Mayfield: ‘It’s one of him and 11 of us.’
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Kevin Stefanski and Baker Mayfield won 18 games in two seasons of their head coach-quarterback partnership, including a franchise-cleansing playoff triumph in Pittsburgh, where Cleveland coaches and quarterbacks rarely emerge victorious.
No other Browns coach-quarterback shared in more victories in two years together since Marty Schottenheimer and Bernie Kosar in the 1980s.
But when Mayfield finally was granted his wish and traded on July 6, ending his team-less exile by agreeing to a $3.5 million pay-cut, there were no personal goodbyes.
At least, the coach wouldn’t admit to it.
“I am not going to get into those things,” Stefanski said Monday as the Browns returned for their first real day of work on Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers in preparation of Sunday’s season-opener. “I keep conversations between all of our players [in house] – we have talked about that.”
It’s a convenient defense method employed by Stefanski to avoid any hint of controversy, to disavow any evidence of the shredded relationship of he and Mayfield at the end.
In his last public comments as Browns quarterback, following a humiliating debacle in Pittsburgh (of course) that featured nine sacks, five passes batted back to him, and an NFL-high 10 incompletions in a row, Mayfield outed his coaches for not giving rookie right tackle James Hudson sufficient help against T.J. Watt, whose four sacks on the day locked up NFL defensive player-of-the-year honors.
Team Mayfield would later insinuate, through anonymous channels, that the Browns conspired to make Mayfield look bad to better sell the idea of replacing him in the offseason.
In his post-game Zoom interview following the 26-14 loss to the Steelers in Game 16, Mayfield essentially said he would not play in the meaningless finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I’m an extremely competitive guy,” Mayfield said at the time. “But I think now it’s time for me to start look at what’s in the best interest for me and my health. I’ve continued to lay it on the line and haven’t been healthy and tried to fight for our guys. Right now, I’m pretty damn beat up, to be honest with you. There’s no way around it. I gave it everything I had tonight.”
The reverberations about Mayfield deciding to call it a year, mostly on defense, were profound, although nobody came forward publicly.
On Monday, reflecting on the situation, safety John Johnson came as close as anyone to verifying that Mayfield was not the most popular teammate at the end.
“I won’t say personally,” Johnson said. “I know I had a little injury. I missed the previous two games, but I wanted to make sure I came back just to play with my guys. It goes both ways. Maybe he was hurt. We don’t know. Maybe he really couldn’t play. I think it’s just something we don’t know.”
Mayfield’s denouement in Pittsburgh undoubtedly sealed his fate as a former Brown – more so than anything he said publicly in the aftermath of the team’s flirtation with Deshaun Watson.
As we found out later, GM Andrew Berry and others in the Browns’ hierarchy were secretly vetting Watson as a replacement for Mayfield as early as November.
That timeline coincided with the messy parting with popular receiver Odell Beckham Jr., whose differences and frustrations with Mayfield were expressed by his father’s retweet of a video incredibly critical of Mayfield.
Thereafter, some players looked sideways at Mayfield while publicly supporting Beckham. Mayfield on at least two occasions said in national interviews that he had to repair “relationships” in the locker room.
The magical chemistry that had bonded the team and enabled it to over-achieve in 2020 had been blown asunder.
“Maybe for a split second you had those feelings,” Johnson conceded.
“I wouldn’t say we took sides [after the OBJ divorce]. We just wanted to see our guys happy. Either side. At a point, Baker decided he didn’t want to be here anymore. He put stuff out there. It’s a team game, but there’s an individual aspect to it. Unfortunately, guys come and go.”
After the divorce of OBJ, Mayfield had one shining moment in Cincinnati in a defense-inspired, 41-16 rout of the future AFC champion Bengals. But it was all downhill from there.
He lost four of six starts, squandering splendid defensive games in Baltimore and Green Bay, with the Browns’ playoff hopes hanging by a thread. It was in the first half of the Green Bay game, during which Mayfield tossed four interceptions, when home-bound Johnson tweeted RUN THE DAMN BALL!
“It’s a team game. You can’t put blame on one person,” Johnson said Monday.
The Browns are now in the unique position of game-planning for a quarterback they know intimately.
Mayfield spent his exile getting remedial work on his always-flawed mechanics from QB guru Jeff Christiansen. In an interview on Sirius XM NFL radio this summer, Christiansen predicted a resurgent Mayfield would emerge with a vastly different throwing motion.
Asked if he sees a different Mayfield, Johnson shrugged, “I don’t think so. It’s hard to tell. He got a few snaps [on tape in preseason]. I’m gonna watch some more.
“I’m no quarterback expert or anything. We got a couple plays to go off of. We’re gonna study them to death.”
“I think he’s confident. That was probably a big thing that happened last year, maybe his confidence wavered a little bit. Looks confident, looks healthy, looks like he’s whipping the ball, so it’s going to be a challenge.”
Stefanski dares not tip his hand on what he sees on Carolina preseason tape. He was asked if he would lean more on personal experience with Mayfield in game-planning him or on Carolina tape.
“Baker obviously is a player that we know well,” Stefanski said. “He knows us really well, too, in terms of scheme and those type of things. I think our players and our coaches have a real good understanding of his strengths.”
So who has the edge, then, in this certifiable grudge match – the quarterback or the defense?
“I feel like I’m a little biased,” Johnson said. “I’m gonna say the defense. It’s one of him and 11 of us.”
Which is probably the way Mayfield likes it.
Brownie bits
Myles Garrett had an excused absence from practice for personal reasons and was expected back later on Monday …
New arrivals Joe Haeg and Jesse James practiced with the team. Stefanski said both veterans were acquired to improve depth. Haeg can play either tackle spot and joins Chris Hubbard and James Hudson as backups to starters Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin. James provides an in-line blocking complement to tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant. James averaged 22 receptions in seven NFL seasons; 30 in four seasons with the Steelers. “Obviously, there are some moments all three of them could be out there together potentially. Really, it depends on what is needed for that game,” Stefanski said. The coach was unsure whether either could be activated for the Carolina game …
Stefanski answered “yes” when asked if there’s a chance Conklin would play Sunday. The right tackle has had a steady diet of practice the last couple weeks in the final days of recovery from 2021 patellar tendon surgery.
