Getty Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Baker Mayfield has been impressive in his first three NFL games, leading the once-lowly Cleveland Browns to a 2-1 record in those contests.
That is, unless you’re on the Baltimore Ravens.
In Week 5, the rookie quarterback threw for 342 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in his team’s 12-9 overtime victory over the Ravens, who lead the league in scoring defense.
Did Baker Mayfield Get Lucky?
Some members of the Ravens defense were hardly impressed, like linebacker Kenny Young, who answered a question about Mayfield’s play with another question.
From the Akron Beacon Journal:
Young: “What do YOU think?”
Reporter: “I don’t know. I’m not a player.”
Young: “I mean, you watched the game. What do you think?”
Reporter: “I’m not sure. it looks like he stares down receivers a little bit. Maybe telegraphs some passes.”
Young: “You just said it right there. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what type of quarterback he is.”
It’s not the first time a member of an opposing secondary has offered such a critique.
“At this point, he’s still learning. He’s a rookie. I think he does stare down his receivers and his targets,” Buffalo Bills safety Rafael Bush told The Repository after a preseason loss to Cleveland. Bush was otherwise highly complimentary of the rookie’s game.
Ravens safety Eric Weddle gave the quarterback some credit for his fortitude, but thought Mayfield was lucky to finish the day with just one interception.
“He made some good throws,” the 12-year veteran said. “He easily could have thrown three or four picks.”
More from the Beacon Journal:
Weddle did give Mayfield credit for fighting, exemplified by a 13-yard overtime scramble that turned a second-and-21 from his own 5 into a third-and-8. Weddle didn’t see the next crucial play, Derrick Willies’ 39-yard catch and run, as Mayfield magic.
“It was a throw and a missed tackle,” Weddle said. “We had a pressure on, and we had good coverage. [Willies] ran through the tackle and ran another 20 yards.
“We stopped their offense the entire game. They made one more play than us.”
Despite Weddle’s assessment of Mayfield’s Week 5 performance, he believes the rookie’s future is bright.
“I’m a fan of the game, and I respect good players, and he did a good job,” Weddle said, according to NFL.com. “He made some throws that were really good, and he made some others that were really bad that we could have capitalized on. But with the game on the line, he made a great throw and the guy made a great catch and run. As good as our defense played, they made one more play than us.”
Browns Confident in Baker Mayfield
“[Mayfield’s teammates have] a belief in what he does,” head coach Hue Jackson told The Plain Dealer. “There’s a belief in how he goes about his work and his business as the quarterback of this football team.”
The quarterback’s first snap came in relief of Tyrod Taylor late in the second quarter of a Week 3 tilt with the New York Jets. Down 14-0 when he entered, Mayfield led the team to a 21-17 comeback win.
They’ve split a pair of overtime games since.
“We have a team right now that is starting to believe in themselves, and rightfully so,” Mayfield said after the Week 5 victory, according to ESPN. “I take a lot of pride in the culture change and being positive, always moving forward and doing your job no matter what the situation is. That was big for us.”