QB Baker Mayfield (10.9.19)
QB Baker Mayfield:
On confidence in the Browns offense’s ability to fix inconsistencies and mistakes:
“Fully confident, and it is in our control. It starts with the gameplan of guys knowing where to go getting lined up and knowing exactly our landmarks, details, your job and your routes. It is in our control. To be a great football team, you need to adapt and find out how people are playing you, but that comes in the details of the routes, knowing leads and also the play call and knowing what to expect on certain downs and how the defense is playing.”
On if it is easy to fix those areas:
“Yes.”
On if 49ers CB Richard Sherman has reached out to apologize about the pregame handshake situation:
“I have not had my phone on me. I just got out of practice, but I have just heard that. That is nice of him.”
On if Sherman’s comments postgame bothered him:
“No. I know what I did. That is the one time a camera and something recording me has gone in my favor (laughter).”
On if he intended to snub Sherman in any way:
“No. I respect him and who he is as a player. He is a great player and has been for a while. In no way did I mean it like that.”
On if the generation of unwarranted negative criticism for something that was not accurate bothered him:
“No, in the sense that I am not worried about it. I know how I handled it and exactly what that I did. It is what it is with you guys. People want to portray an image of me and who I am with a person. I could not care less.”
On if he was surprised by the comments and claims made by Sherman postgame:
“Yeah, I was surprised a little bit, but you know what? It is what it is.”
On the expectation the Browns would get each opponent’s best shot this season and dealing with it the first five weeks of the season:
“It has been a good wake-up call for us to realize that it does not matter who we are playing, we have to play our game. We have to give them our best shot. It is time to stop worrying about exactly what they are doing and do our job first and be able to adapt on the fly. We have to execute our job first and foremost.”
On Head Coach Freddie Kitchens’ comments diminishing the concept of carryover from one year to the next and if he is surprised that he has not been able to simply pick up where he left off last year:
“We are a different team. Obviously, I am not happy that I am not picking up with the same success that we ended off with, but that is a part of the game. That is a part of the learning curve of getting better each week, trying to get better and trying to execute and just knowing who we are as a team and what I need to do to make us have success. For me, it is about winning games so when we do not do that, I did not doing my job.”
On if he feels he is playing as well as he did last season:
“I think there are certain areas that I am playing better than I have. I could not really care less about stats. For me, it is about winning. There are some things pre-snap and also going through my reads that I am proud of compared to last year, but there are also a lot of areas I could get better at.”
On indications the Browns offense can improve and get into a groove:
“Who we have in this locker room. It is along the lines with what I said a few weeks ago about sticking together and not really caring about anyone on the outside. I think that we have identified the problem, and we are going to be able to go out there and do our best to eliminate those problems and those issues. That is the type of team we have, and we are going to ride together.”
On if there has been a lack of offensive chemistry:
“No, I just think it is a lack of execution on offense. I think it is just about everyone doing their job. Not worrying about chemistry this or all of the outside noise, it is just about doing your job and knowing we have the guys in this locker room that we believe in. That is why everyone was brought here, and now just go and do it.”
On not being able to get the ball to WR Odell Beckham Jr. as often as desired:
“It is frustrating when teams take him out of the game, but it is also an opportunity for other guys to make plays. We have to do our job of getting him the ball as many times as we can. He is a game-changer. That is why he is here. He is one of the best in the league. We will do our part, and we expect him to do his as well.”
On if the Browns offense has to make opponents pay for double-teaming Beckham before more opportunities become available for Beckham:
“Absolutely. I think it is about seeing how teams are going to play, and if there are one on ones, we have to be able to take advantage of it. If not, he has to be patient and we do too of not forcing the ball to him and taking advantage of defenses and making them adapt before we can get the ball to him.”
On how Beckham has responded to the lack of receptions:
“He is frustrated when he is not getting the ball and we are losing. Why not be? He feels like he could help us win if we get the ball in his hands. When we are winning, that is the thing about it is he is a team guy. He is helping us win in any way he can, and he understands how teams are going to play him. It is frustrating when he is not getting the ball and we are losing. You can’t blame him. He is one of the best receivers in the league, and when he is not getting the ball, he always has it in the back of his mind of ‘What if I did get the ball and changed this game?’”
On if it takes a while for a QB and WR to fully develop their timing and chemistry:
“I think it is just about how we are teaching the offense and the details of the routes. I would not necessarily say that chemistry is within that. Just understanding how we want to get things accomplished. I think right now, we are heading in the right direction. I think we know exactly how we want to attack teams and exactly what we want to do.”
On if Beckham’s hip injury in training camp and the preseason has affected their ability to develop their relationship on the field:
“I think for him, that is why the mental part of it was so important and knowing exactly what he needs to do and where to be. Yeah, it definitely hurt not having him get real, live reps, but it did not hinder us in the long run and now it is just about execution.”
On if he should start running the ball more:
“What? I am the quarterback.”
On if he should use his feet more often to get extra yards and first downs:
“I am not sure where you are saying I should have run, but if it helps our team win then I am going to try and do it.”
On scrambling for gains this season more so than last season:
“Yeah, I am also trying to get the ball into guys hands. I am not as good of an athlete as some of the other guys.”
On if some struggles can be tied to handling success and building momentum off of it:
“Yeah, I think definitely momentum for us. You can look at also in-game momentum and being able to take advantages of our defense getting turnovers, and then you talk about the big picture of once you win, what did you do well and what mistakes can you eliminate and just realizing who you are. I think we found out who we are as an offense identity wise, and I think we need to continue to do that. Get the ball out quick. Playmakers make plays. Offensive line, it makes it easy on them. The run game has holes for them. It takes a little time, but consistency is the key. That is why the momentum for us, the ups and downs, is hurting us a lot.”
On the Browns’ sense of urgency with a game against the Seahawks before the bye week:
“Our sense of urgency is at an all-time high right now. I think we have guys that are locked in. We realize exactly what we need to do. We are going to take this short week and see what we can do on Sunday.”
On Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and how much he emulated Wilson’s game during his career:
“Russell is obviously a great quarterback, a great leader for his team. His playmaking speaks for itself. He has done it consistently for a lot of years. Right now, he is playing some of the best football he ever has. That just shows you each year he is getting better and better. They plug and play a lot of guys. They have a different set of skill players right now, but they are doing a great job right now and he is the key focal point of that.”
On if the timing was good enough on pass intended for WR Antonio Callaway in the end zone that was intercepted:
“No, it was not. I said it after the game. I could have put it more in front of him. It was not as accurate as I wanted to be. Yeah, I definitely could have done better.”
On if the pass intended for WR Odell Beckham towards the sideline was too high:
“Yeah, it could be a better ball. It comes down to I am not going to be perfect every time and our receivers are not, as well. The more plays you can make that are right there on that line of – could we make it?Yeah – we are going to try as many of those as we can.”
On how challenging it is when collective individual mistakes are causing inconsistencies compared to one continued area of inefficiency:
“It comes back to everybody doing their job. It is as simple as that. It is why it is not one area or thing you can pinpoint of. That is why there is no finger pointing going on here. Everybody here is to blame, and they know that. That is why you got a bunch of guys that are going to come together, and we are going to ride out together and fix the issue, fix the problems we can, eliminate mistakes and do your job.”
On if his recent fumbles and interceptions are among the most disappointing factors to him:
“Yeah, anytime you turn the ball over, it hurts your team. Interceptions are going to happen – tipped balls, things like that are going to happen. That is why you know I am not one that looks at stats directly. The careless mistakes, like the fumble to me, is one that I would really like to have back of not putting us in position to hurt this team. It is my job to put us in position to win, our best position to win, get the ball in their hands. Anytime you turn the ball over, you are not doing that.”
On his reaction to opponents creating personal vendettas against him like Sherman and 49ers DE Nick Bosa:
“I do not think Sherman’s was a personal vendetta. He said what he said. Bosa, good for him. He had it premeditated. He has been thinking about that obviously for two years now. That is a long time to think about that loss.”
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