Getty Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
Baker Mayfield is under significant pressure as he enters the final year of his rookie deal with the Cleveland Browns and ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III found a unique way to express that.
During an appearance on NFL on ESPN Griffin used the Panchakarma cleanse Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently went through as a way to explain Mayfield’s situation.
“I think Baker is under the most pressure of anybody in the league,” the one-time Browns QB said. “He’s got more pressure on him than Aaron Rodgers’ bowels did during his 12-day cleanse.”
.@RGIII believes Baker Mayfield is under more pressure than anyone in the league 👀
“If he doesn’t run the table and win a Super Bowl, I think we might’ve seen the last of Baker Mayfield in Cleveland after this next season.”
So for starters, wow — what a line from RG3. But for those unfamiliar with Panchakarma, there are five classical elements that make up the cleans as they were originally written, per Chopra. Those are herbalized oil enemas, nasal irrigation, therapeutic vomiting, purgation and — yes — bloodletting. Some of those have been modified for the modern panchakarma program and Rodgers went into more detail this week during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I just came out of a 12-day cleanse where you’re eating a specific diet and you’re going through these treatments every day,” Rodgers said. “You’re not really doing anything else. You’ve gotta kind of turn everything else off. You’re not working out, you’re not straining or anything. It’s kind of a re-centering, it not only heals you physically but I think it takes away mental stress. And then the spiritual part, I think it allows you to kind of enjoy the meditations a little bit more.”
RGIII: Mayfield Needs ‘Joe Flacco’ Type Season
The statements on Mayfield’s future didn’t stop there from Griffin, who thinks it’s Super Bowl or bust for the former top pick.
“Baker needs a Joe Flacco type of year,” Griffin said. “He needs to run the table and win the Super Bowl. Anything short of that? He’s not going to get the public to buy in on him. He’s definitely not going to get the people in the front office to buy in on him being the quarterback past 2022.”
Flacco won the Super Bowl in 2013 and ended up signing a six-year, $120 million deal to stay with the Ravens. Mayfield wasn’t far off that path a season ago, helping lead the Browns to the postseason and a Wild Card win.
It seemed like a foregone conclusion that the sides would eventually reach a deal, but after an injury-riddled season, Mayfield’s future in Cleveland is very much up in the air.
Browns Back Mayfield as Starter Going Forward
Mayfield has surgery on his non-throwing shoulder to repair a torn labrum on January 19. He suffered the injury in Week 2 against the Texans while trying to make a tackle and he never seemed right following the incident.
The Browns released a statement saying Mayfield would begin light throwing in April, adding that he should be able to participate in the offseason program on a limited basis. He is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in July.
Mayfield tossed 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season and really struggled down the stretch as the Browns finished the year at 8-9. Despite that, general manager Andrew Berry made in clear in his end-of-season press conference that Mayfield would get another chance as the team’s starter.
“We have been with Baker for a long period of time at this point. We know his work ethic, we know his drive and we have seen him as a talented passer in this league. We are looking forward to him getting healthy and continuing to make improvements. We expect him to bounce back next year,” Berry told reporters at the end of the season.
That doesn’t mean the team won’t poke around on the market, especially for a proven backup that could push Mayfield like Mitch Trubisky or Marcus Mariota.