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The Cleveland Browns will be without their top two quarterbacks on Monday against the Las Vegas Raiders, with both Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum out.
The quarterback duo both tested positive for COVID-19 this week, landing on the reserve list ahead of the December 20 matchup. Even with the new protocols in place, neither player was able to produce a pair of negative tests, meaning Nick Mullens will officially draw the start at quarterback, with Kyle Lauletta serving as his backup.
Mayfield had been vocal about his situation, revealing that he’s been asymptomatic. The former top pick was holding out hope that he’d be able to play but it wasn’t in the cards. His wife, Emily Mayfield — who Baker has been quarantining with — sounded off following her husband being ruled out.
“Super frustrating since he feels 110%,” Emily wrote in an Instagram story. “He did EVERYTHING he could to get that negative test…. but we can only control what’s within our control. And this isn’t one of those things.
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“You better believe we’ll be cheering LOUD from our couch. Our guys can get it done!! Let’s show them what we’re made of and take that #1 spot in the AFC North.”
Browns Express Confidence in Nick Mullens
While it’s less than ideal for any team to be down to their third-string quarterback, the Browns are in a better situation than most teams, being able to run out a guy in Mullens with some legit starting experience.
Mullens is in his fourth NFL season out of Southern Mississippi and garnered some early-career starting experience with the San Francisco 49ers. Mullens — an undrafted free agent — has appeared in 19 career games with 16 starts, completing 387 passes for 4,714 yards with 25 touchdowns. He has spent the 2021 season on the Browns’ practice squad and was active but did not play in the team’s Week 7 game against the Denver Broncos.
“He’s played good football. … He’s got some really good tape out there, somebody that our personnel department has followed closely,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said during a December 18 media conference. “I think he’s done an outstanding job really for us all season long.”
It’s been a crazy and unpredictable week, but Mullens is ready to lead the Browns to victory by rolling with the punches.
“Just take one thing at a time,” he told the media on December 18. “Whatever happens, just roll with it, and accept that we are all here to do a job. We are here to try and be the best football players we can to help the team. We have a job to do, and that is really what we have been focused on all week.”
Browns Get Safety John Johnson Back
Game day did not come without a little good news. The Browns will get safety John Johnson III back for the matchup after he was cleared on Monday morning. It’s a vastly important addition, considering the Browns’ top three safeties — Johnson, Ronnie Harrison and Grant Delpit — were all previously out.
The Browns also were able to get back mauling guard Wyatt Teller and defensive end Takkaraist McKinley. Stefanski — who has tested positive himself — said the Browns were not hanging onto the thought that a swarm of reinforcements would come before kickoff.
“As you can imagine, things are very fluid. We will see how it goes in terms of guys going not the list, but in terms of guys who are coming back, we do not know,” Stefanski said earlier in the week. “There is uncertainty there. If guys make it back, great. If they do not, that is fine, too. We have that mentality, as you know, where it is next man up and love to see guys come back, but definitely not something that we are counting on, so to speak.”
The Browns are a 2.5-point underdog against the Raiders at home on Monday.
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