QB Baker Mayfield (10.17.21)
On how he is feeling after the left, non-throwing shoulder injury:
“It feels like shit.”
On if the injury is worse than when injured earlier this year:
“Probably. MRI and stuff tomorrow so we will find out more.”
On if has a sense of if he will be able to play through the injury:
“I do.”
On if he will be able to play through the injury:
“Yes.”
On if the injury is a new one or just a re-aggravation of the first shoulder injury he suffered:
“It dislocated again and slipped out again on a non-contact play. Just have to figure out a way to get better.”
On his turnovers:
“The first fumble, just the saying ‘dead man zone.’ You are scrambling around to find where those extra guys are. I wanted to get the ball downfield to (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) on the scramble drill, and he was open. Just that extra half-second of trying to make a play, just have to take care of it. The pick was just a bad throw. I threw it where he was instead of where he was going to be. Just a bad throw. The last one, just held onto the ball.”
On the momentum from the Hail Mary TD pass at the end of the first half:
“Taking some momentum into halftime. The defense came out and got a stop. We just were not able to score at the beginning of the third quarter to truly change that game. It was one of those days. We could not get things going. They had a good plan for us and got punched in the mouth.”
On if he expected Beckham to return to the game after sustaining a shoulder:
“At first, I did not really know. I could tell he got up kind of gingerly. We went in at halftime and asked him how he was doing. He said he was coming back in. He is tough. He wants to be in there playing and helping us out.”
On how big of a challenge the short week will be for the Browns with several players banged up:
“It is a huge challenge with the short week. Obviously, you mentioned it, we have a lot of guys banged up right now, but it is an AFC opponent coming in, and we have to be able to bounce back and respond. It is the first time we have lost two in a row since (Head Coach) Kevin (Stefanski) has been here. That hurts more than anything because you want to be able to fix those corrections and not make the same mistakes over again. We did not do that. We have to flush it, learn from it and move forward. It is no resemblance of who we are as a team on display today.”
On how the Browns OL played today:
“I thought they played good for what they were asked to do. One of the sacks when the guy was running free, I just need to know in that defensive personnel that we are going to have to get the ball out. I thought they played well. Just have to find ways to get healthy and get back out there.”
On the Browns choosing to use several empty backfield sets early in the game:
“If you look at our personnel up against theirs, they had a good plan. They brought in bigger personnel to each personnel we had. They would upgrade that. When we would go empty to try to get them out of that, they had a good empty plan. We have to look at that film, make those corrections and be able to expect that in the future.”
On why the Browns offense has struggled to convert on fourth down:
“It is just about doing the little things right. That is kind of the story of our offense right now is we are not consistent enough and not making those little plays and little details. Whether it is alignment or assignment, it is just doing your job and not doing too much. Just doing your job. That is pretty much it.”
On saying the shoulder injury happened on one occasion in a non-contact setting and if that was on the fumble or another play:
“A different play.”
On his comment that the team was not who it is as a team today and if that extends to all three units:
“Like I said earlier in the week, complementary football. You could ask anybody in our building, ‘Have we played to our potential?’ Absolutely not. Yeah, I can speak from a leadership standpoint, we expect to be better. That is plain and simple. That is what we are going to have to do. We are going to have to come out with a sense of urgency. We are not panicking by any means. We are 3-3. That is not where we wanted to be right now, but the pure genius of the NFL, we have 11 more games instead of 10 now. We have 11 more games to go show who we are, play for each other and get better as each week goes on because nobody makes the playoffs right now. You have to not let up and you have to peak at the right time. We will handle this correctly. We will do that, and I know that because of the guys we have in the locker room. We will get better. That is just a fact.”
On RB Kareem Hunt being carted to the locker room toward the end of the game:
“It sucks. He was playing through some nicks and injuries, as well. For it to happen on kind of a simple pass play that he is just going over the ball, it just sucks. I hurt for him. I just talked to him, and it is the first time that he had not finished a football game. Things like that are tough because you do not wish that upon anybody. We are going to see what we are made of. Our backs are up against the wall right now, and I like our chances.”
On the Browns going up-tempo on the team’s first TD drive and if that helped establish a rhythm:
“A little bit. Also, I think just trying to keep them out [on the field]. They were bringing some good pressures and timing it up on different downs. Just trying to keep them out of that. When you play a team like that and they are on the drawing board and they are able to dial those things up, you want to get into tempo to where they can’t do that.”
On if he will be able to play on Thursday with the short turnaround:
“Absolutely.”
On if he was surprised the offense and Cardinals QB Kyler Murray were able to execute efficiently despite Cardinals Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury missing the game:
“No, not at all. They are a good team. They were undefeated for much more than just a few individual people. They are playing extremely hard right now. I said that on defense and on the offensive side of the ball. Their effort is off the charts. They just played really well today.”
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