News » Mayfield came in and led the Browns

BEREA Womens Myles Garrett Jersey , Ohio (AP) — Baker Mayfield bravely stood in the pocket last week, held the ball — sometimes for too long — and took some punishing shots from the Los Angeles Chargers.He hasn’t recovered.Physically, he’s fine. Mentally, Cleveland’s quarterback hasn’t healed.“That is the worst loss that I have ever had,” Mayfield said Wednesday.For the first time this season, the Browns (2-3-1) weren’t competitive in Sunday’s 38-14 loss to the Chargers, and Mayfield looked like what he is: a rookie who is going to make mistakes and take some lumps from time to time.But as he and his teammates prepare to play at Tampa Bay on Sunday, the No. 1 overall pick is showing leadership and a resolve not to let it happen again. The Browns may soon find out how far they’ve come — or how far they’ve got to go.“Any loss like that hurts,” Mayfield said. “You have to push forward and just have to do your job, and you will find out what this team is made of. It is never about the week before or if you win or lose — it is how you react from it. Coming off of a loss, we will really see what this team is made of.”Mayfield’s third career pro start was one of the worst of his football life. He completed just 22 of 46 passes (48 percent) for 238 yards with two interceptions.For a player who completed 71 percent of his passes last season at Oklahoma and 69 percent over four years (the first at Texas Tech), Mayfield’s inaccuracy against the Chargers was an anomaly.It was the first time his completion rate was under 50 percent since Nov. 21, 2015, when he went 9 of 20 against TCU. However, he only played the first half of that game because of a concussion.Mayfield only twice completed less than 50 percent of his passes in 48 college games, which is why he was so despondent about his performance last week.“Mathematically, which I think goes hand in hand with emotionally,” he said when asked why he called it his worst loss. “Just did not play well, plain and simple. No way around it. It was not fun.”Cleveland’s offensive line struggled to protect Mayfield, whose mobility was impacted when he slipped and tweaked his ankle while running out of bounds in the first quarter. The Chargers were able to keep Mayfield from rolling out and making plays.But perhaps more problematic was Mayfield missed open receivers, misread coverages and didn’t release the ball quickly enough. There were plays when a simple dump-off throw to a running back would have been a better option.“Kudos to them for doing their job,” Mayfield said of the Chargers. “They did it well. At the same time, if I get the ball out of my hands, then none of that really matters. It just comes down to me not doing my job to the best of my ability, plain and simple. There is no way around it. I have to be better for this team and be that for our offense.”Browns coach Hue Jackson was pleased to hear that Mayfield was accountable. However Womens Nick Chubb Jersey , it wasn’t entirely his fault as Cleveland’s receivers weren’t getting open and rookies Antonio Callaway and Damion Ratley didn’t make plays on deep balls that could have been touchdowns.Mayfield took the blame.Jackson spread it around.“We have to make sure that we are in the right spots for him all of the time,” Jackson said. “I think there were some opportunities there. As I said to our line coaches, we have to make sure that we give up ground grudgingly for this young man. I do not want people hitting our quarterback. He has been hit way too much in my mind and then he has to get the ball out of his hand.“I have seen some things where he can improve, but I have seen some things where the unit can improve more than anything.”NOTES: QB Tyrod Taylor, who lost his job to Mayfield when he suffered a concussion in Week 3, believes he can still be a winning NFL starter. The 29-year-old said he has not considered asking for a trade. “My mindset is to continue to keep helping this team,” Taylor said in his first extensive interview since getting hurt. “It’s a new role for me.” Taylor will be a free agent after the season, and Jackson expects him to finish it with the Browns. “Until someone tells me something differently,” Jackson said. “He is our backup quarterback.” … Starting C JC Tretter (ankle) did not practice, but Jackson thinks he’ll be ready for Sunday. If not, rookie Austin Corbett will start. CLEVELAND (AP) — The losing has slowed, but hasn’t stopped for the ever-rebuilding Browns. They’re in the midst of yet another coaching search, and the NFL playoffs are likely to come and go without them again this season — the 16th straight postseason since their most recent appearance.But as Cleveland hit its bye week, and with six games left in another season going nowhere, optimism abounds around a franchise that has had little to celebrate over the past 25 years.The dark days of despair are dwindling.Baker Mayfield is making them go away.The fearless rookie quarterback with the contagious personality, touchdown-making skills and trash-talking bravado, has the Browns — and their long-suffering fans — believing.“It’s not everything, but it’s everything,” guard Joel Bitonio said with a smile when asked about Mayfield’s magnetism and positive influence. “You’ve got to have a quarterback to win in the NFL and it hasn’t been perfect, but to have him out there with you, there’s always that hope that, ‘Hey, we have a chance to win this game.'”The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Mayfield is changing the Browns (3-6-1) with his actions on and off the field. He’s already endured years of chaos in just 10 games as Cleveland has changed coaches, traded its top playmaker (Josh Gordon) and leading rusher (Carlos Hyde) Bernie Kosar Jersey , suffered numerous injuries and a few of those punch-in-the stomach losses that the Browns have seemingly mastered.But every time the Browns have taken a hard hit, Mayfield has responded with one of his own.“We’ve got a quarterback who knows how to fight,” said defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah. “You want to play for a guy like that who inspires you. He comes to the defensive side of the ball like, ‘Hey, we’re still in this. Just give me one more chance out there.’ Guys on defense love that. They love a quarterback who can go out there and make a promise and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got your back.'”Mayfield, who has gotten better every week, hasn’t won the respect of his teammates. He’s earned it.The Browns didn’t hand the starting job to Mayfield, who began the season in a backup role before starter Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion in Week 3 against the New York Jets on national TV. Mayfield came in and led the Browns to their first win since 2016, snapping a 19-game winless streak and providing a preview of bigger things to come.It hasn’t been perfect so far. Mayfield has made his share of rookie mistakes, forcing passes, holding onto the ball too long, missing open receivers. But in the past four games, Mayfield has completed 69 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and just two interceptions.Despite winning the Heisman Trophy and going 33-6 as a starter at Oklahoma, Mayfield wasn’t considered the top prospect in this year’s ballyhooed rookie QB class, which includes Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Josh Allen. Mayfield was too short, too cocky, too much a product of Sooners coach Lincoln Riley’s system.Well, Mayfield has outperformed the other rookies across the board.“He’s developing as a quarterback,” said Browns general manager John Dorsey, the man who went out on a limb and picked Mayfield. “He is still a rookie quarterback. He has demonstrated certain things during the course of a game that get you excited. I think that if you would ask him as a person, he still has a lot more football to master the position that he plays. I think he will continue to do that.”Last week, after being encouraged by interim coach Gregg Williams and his teammates to “cut it loose and play David Njoku Jersey White ,” Mayfield delivered the signature performance and victory of his fledgling pro career.He completed his first 13 passes, finished 17 of 20 with three touchdown passes and outplayed Atlanta quarterback and 2016 NFL MVP Matt Ryan as the Browns ended a four-game losing streak with a 28-16 win.Following the game, Mayfield smiled and said he woke up “feeling dangerous” before de-feathering the Falcons, who had their playoff hopes severely shaken.The comment might have come off as cocky to some, but it was Mayfield at his playful and bragging best, displaying the swagger that made him a college superstar and has endeared him to his Cleveland teammates.Make no mistake, at 23 and only 10 games into his NFL life, Mayfield is the Browns’ undisputed leader, the tone-setter.“He’s taken the role head-first, never looking back,” said rookie running back Nick Chubb, who rushed for 176 yards in the win. “He brings that energy and burst that we need. This team will follow him anywhere. He is just a great leader, and you know no matter what is going on around us or outside noise just the bad stuff that has not gone well for us, he is going to give us all 100 percent and he is not going to let it affect him.“We like that in our quarterback and our leader, and he is fiercely competitive. He gives 100 percent every play. Just being on the team with him, everyone just likes it and loves him and loves who he is.”The praise from Chubb and others fuel him.“To me, there is nothing better than that,” Mayfield said. “As a quarterback, and as somebody that wants to be a leader of this team, it does not get better than that.”In Cleveland, things are getting a lot better.