QB Baker Mayfield (9.15.20)
QB Baker Mayfield:
On his impressions of Bengals QB Joe Burrow:
“From the games that I saw him play last year, very decisive. He gets the ball out and gives his guys a chance. I did not see them play the Chargers on offense, but real smooth, kind of looks like a field general back there. Obviously, I think he is an unbelievably talented guy, but I think his teammates love him and they really fight for him. That is what you can tell on TV.”
On the key to getting on the same page with WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Head Coach Kevin Stefanski within the offensive scheme:
“It takes all three of us just being on the same page. For myself, going through my reads, trusting those reads and delivering the ball based on what those reads are telling me. I think we had some great one-on-one opportunities on some of those passes from Sunday but just did not connect. Some of those were the penalties, the grabs and the pass interference that we talked about. Some were just a little bit of miscommunication or a little overthrow. We are working on that so we will get it fixed.”
On if there was a concerted effort to target Beckham more in second half or if he was simply following his reads:
“Based on if you guys were to watch it, there were a lot of one on ones, and we take our one-on-one matchups. I trust those guys, and that is what they are paid to do is one-on-one plays. That is a certain thing if my reads are taking me there, it might have looked that way, but that is a one-on-one matchup.”
On how the quick turnaround against another division opponent may help the Browns move past Sunday’s loss:
“The quick turnaround just means you can’t dwell on the negative. You are not going to beat yourself up throughout the week. You have too much to focus on. There was a lot to learn from that game. You do not necessarily want to completely forget about it. You want to improve, learn from it and get better moving forward.”
On the challenge preparing for Cincinnati on a short week after the first week of the season:
“Luckily, they have the same defense coordinator so schematically, you are not looking at too much of a change up. It is just a different bit of personnel stuff like the normal changes from year in and year out. It is definitely less exotic looks than we received at Baltimore, but you are right, the shorter week means you have to get all your studying done earlier in the week and we have a bunch of guys that are focused and ready to go out there on Thursday.”
On areas he can personally improve from Week 1 after watching the film:
“Early on, just settle down. I think there were a couple of throws just pressing to get it out of my hands. Then as the game went on, I felt that I did do that. My eyes were in the right place and got the ball to where the reads were telling me to go. I think a little bit of the first game jitters without the preseason might have caused that, but at the same time, definitely need to be more settled in. You look back at it, there are a couple crucial plays that let that game get out of hand. A great team like that, like I said on Sunday, is going to take advantage of it.”
On clarifying the need to more settled in early in the game:
“I would say just trusting my guys to be in their spots, not trying to do too much and get the ball out of my hands There was one early out route that could have let the ball go to Odell and put it on the sideline for him to catch and just moved on. Things like that.”
On finding a balance for targeting Beckham and wanting to get him the ball versus needing to get him the ball:
“I think it has to come naturally. Obviously, you gameplan and you scheme up things to get the ball in your playmakers’ hands, but when it comes to game time, they are going to give us certain looks that might take that away. We had a couple plays for him early on, and the Ravens did a good job of taking that away so we had to go through the reads and get the ball into other guys’ hands. When it comes to game time, yeah, you can practice, practice, practice and you might have a certain look all week in practice, but then come game time they might show you a different thing and you have to react, play and just move on. It has to come naturally.”
On if Beckham having a one-on-one can make it more difficult to create that balance while progressing through reads:
“Yeah, that is when the alert goes off in your head that we have a one-on-one with him and you want to get him the ball, but it has to be the right scenario and the right situation for us to do that.”
On assessing his poise in the pocket this year compared to past years:
“I would say last year it definitely declined, just based on protection and where my head was. I would say after looking at the film, pretty similar, and just going through my reads, a little bit of improvement.”
On if his comment about feeling similar to how he felt in college, his rookie year or a year ago:
“College or the first year. Not last year.”
On if he feels more comfortable with his protection this year compared to last season:
“Absolutely.”
On if there is a different approach from the team this week following last week’s loss:
“I just think there is a sense of urgency. Shorter week, obviously, there always will be [a sense of urgency], just about the little and things that we can do better to improve. Like I said, I think we hurt ourselves very early on in that game. I think the focus is on eliminating those mistakes and playing our game, especially on a short week. Just do your job, go out there and execute and do not have those missed assignments and mental errors.”
On if he and Beckham will do any extra work together this week:
“Short week, you can’t nearly get the physical work as to the standard week. It is more of a mental thing. ‘Hey, here in this look, I am expecting you to be here.’ We have to trust those things and go out there and be on the same page.”
On the potential of the Browns offense compared to what occurred Week 1:
“Obviously, there is a ton of room for improvement. It is not just false hopes. It is there. I thought we ran the ball well early on. We got away from it because of the score was a little bit different. The flow of the game forces you to do that. I thought we ran the ball well early, and finding more completions early on for me, let me focus on that to where we are smooth and just going up and down the field, keeping the chains moving.”
On having approximately 6,000 fans at FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday:
“It better be a rowdy 6,000 in those stands.”
On if approximately 6,000 fans at the stadium can bring a level of energy and normalcy:
“Yeah, it will feel a little different. I think the biggest difference from being out there on the field after talking to everybody, everybody during the TV timeouts, it is just dead quiet in the stadium. Just having some fans in there will make a pretty big difference, but then again, it does not matter where we are playing, who and where you are in front of, you have to go out there and do your job each play and focus on that.”
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