Getty Odell Beckham celebrates with Baker Mayfield.
Odell Beckham Jr. is going to bat for Baker Mayfield.
After a wild day in Berea that featured Mayfield storming away from a press conference and going to Twitter to defend himself, the Cleveland Browns star wide receiver is making it known that he’s the first person to have his QB’s back.
“I’m going to jump in the fire with him. I’ll be the first one,” Beckham said. “Some of these losses are on me. I need to be in the right place, the right time. I need to be better and that’s what I plan to do for the rest of the season.”
#Browns WR Odell Beckham Jr on Baker Mayfield’s critics: “I’m going to jump in the fire with him. I’ll be the first one. Some of these losses are on me. I need to be in the right place, the right time. I need to be better and that’s what I plan to do for the rest of the season.”
The partnership has not gone as planned between Mayfield and Beckham, with both in the midst of miserable seasons. A year after setting the rookie record for touchdowns in a season, Mayfield leads the NFL in interceptions (12).
Beckham has 34 catches this season for 488 yards and has only found the end zone once as the Browns have stumbled to a 2-5 start.
“Some of the criticism that’s been on [Baker], you can’t sit here and say it’s all on him,” Beckham said. “You have to take a look at everything that’s going on around him. Obviously he has to play better. I have to play better. Jarvis. Chubb. We all need to do better.”
Odell Beckham Understands How Baker Mayfield Feels
As for the incident in the press conference on Wednesday, in which Mayfield called out veteran Cleveland reporter Tony Grossi, Beckham has sympathy. He’s been there.
“He’s going to be a phenomenal player. I know he gets a lot of heat just for the person that he is. We’re all human. We all have emotions,” Beckham said. “Nobody likes feeling like your being poked at, especially not a guy like that. I’ve been through this fire.
“This is a kid that cares about football and winning. If he was winning, we would all be here laughing and loving him. Because we’re losing, it’s like we want to kind of poke at him. I’m going to be the first one here to defend him every time. I always got his back”
Beckham’s buddy and fellow wide receiver Jarvis Landry was also behind Mayfield’s leadership.
“His energy, even after the loss saying ‘I can’t wait to get back to work’. His whole energy was like himself,” Landry said. “It’s good to see, your leader stepping up.”
Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Dealing With Injuries
Both Landry and Beckham were limited on Wednesday, but head coach Freddie Kitchens sounded confident that they’d play when asked about it on Thursday during his media availability.
“They got the reps they needed,” Kitchens said.
After spending the first part of the season on the report with a hip injury, the groin issue popped up for Beckham last week. However, he appeared to play without a problem against the Patriots, despite managing just 5 catches for 52 yards.
Landry appeared to injure his shoulder against New England, but did bounce back and returned to the game. Landry has not missed a game in his career.
If either do miss the game, it would give an increased role to Antonio Callaway, who is currently functioning as the No. 3 WR in the offense, as well as Rashard Higgins, who has been battling for more work.
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