QB Baker Mayfield (11.18.20)
QB Baker Mayfield:
On preparing for the Eagles without T Jack Conklin, C JC Tretter and other Browns players at practice today:
“Obviously, the Eagles team, a lot of great players up front. I think their play speaks for itself. We are going to keep that same mentality of adapt to whatever happens and next man up mentality. Whatever happens, happens. We can’t control a lot it. We can only hope to improve and move forward.”
On if he is optimistic that Conklin, K Cody Parkey and LS Charley Hughlett will be back on Sunday and his shared experience of missing time due to being on reserve/COVID-19:
“When you are sitting there at home, you want to be at practice and you want to be with everybody, but to me, it kind of makes you lock in a lot more mentally because you know you are not getting the physical reps. With the guys that are in the protocol right now, I think they will handle it just as that is.”
On playing in inclement weather games recently and the potential for another bad weather day on Sunday:
“I do not know if the forecast has as much wind as the past two, but I enjoyed seeing how everybody handled it. Everybody has to deal with the same conditions so if you can adapt and handle it the best way possible, then great. That is my mentality going into it week in and week out is just take care of the ball. The teams that make the least amount of mistakes in those types of games and control the ball and just kind of stay as efficient as possible. It is a big field position game. When you have games that weather affects it that much, one first down when you are backed up to maybe change the field position when you punt the ball, just to really kind of control that and play chess not checkers.”
On what stands out about Eagles DE Brandon Graham and the Eagles pass rush:
“He is a very experienced player. I just think he is extremely smart. His physical talent, he can kind of do it all. He is very quick. He recognizes plays and schemes quickly. I think when you mix that with physical talent, that is a pretty great combo. Obviously, (Eagles DT) Fletcher (Cox)’s play speaks for itself. He kind of gave me my ‘welcome to the NFL moment’ my rookie year in a preseason game and tossed me like a ragdoll. Familiar with Fletcher.”
On the NFL being a passing league and the need to be sharp in the passing game when weather permits:
“I think you have to be able to do whatever it takes to win. Some games, it just kind of depends on who you are playing. Are they going to load the box? Are they going to try and stop the run? Or are they going to play the split safety, allow you to run the ball and keep the ball in front of them? It is that mentality of whatever it takes. You just have to attack, and whatever they are stopping you, you have to go the opposite way.”
On if he agrees with Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson’s comments about the Browns running game complementing what he does best with bootlegs and play-action passes:
“I think that is our offense as a whole. We run the ball to set up the play action, our shots and our movements to keep teams off track and make everything look similar. Yeah, I would say I agree.”
On the Browns not having any turnovers in the Texans game and what he learned about himself during the past two games with inclement weather:
“Those are the two windiest games I have ever been a part of. You really have to try and get a tight spiral because if you have any sort of wobble on it, the wind will affect it extremely. Just learning that on some of these throws, you really had to put some mustard behind them and try and judge the wind as best as possible. Like the throw before halftime to (WR) Jarvis (Landry), it just kind of carried on me. I tried to put touch on it, but it just got caught in that jet stream and went right over his head. There are some things that you can prepare for, but trying to play in the wind is another ballgame.”
On if he notices the one-two punch of RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt wearing down opposing defenses:
“Yeah, you can definitely tell later in the games. Obviously, those guys breaking more and more tackles. Just the effort on defensive guys, you can tell the way they approached those guys, whether they are coming in with the same intensity or they are diving early and not wrapping up. They wear on those guys, and our O line, they feed off of that. They see those guys breaking tackles and they continue to push the pile. It is not only just our backs but everybody as a whole block for them.”
On if he had a good view of Chubb’s 59-yard run to help seal the win:
“Yeah, I was getting a little nervous when it got strung out that long. Just being on the other side of the field when he cut it loose, that was something pretty cool to watch. He was moving. Did not think he was going to step out of bounds, but he did.”
On if he draws on his rookie year experience of being in playoff contention and the significance of each game moving forward:
“I would say it is just very different just to be quite frank. We are very cognizant of the big picture. Rookie year, we knew we had to win every single game just to have a chance. Right now, we are just trying to treat it the same way so I guess that is the only similarity. We have a big picture mindset but a singular-game focus. That is how we are going to handle it.”
On if he is succeeding at blocking out the playoff picture with so many AFC teams having a 6-3 record:
“Yeah, we know that this is a tough league to play in so we have to handle one game at a time. No team is going to be in the playoffs right now, no matter their record or no matter what is going on. Anything can happen any week at a time so we have to handle it as such.”
On if he is ‘sending chicken soup’ to DE Myles Garrett’s house with the illness and if Garrett missing practice impacts the team’s preparation for the Eagles pass rush this week:
“No because at this point in the season, we are not necessarily going up against our guys as much during practice. We just have to prepare like we are playing the best week in and week out we like we always do. Yeah, I will send Myles some soup and maybe some poems he can read up on.”
On if he gets fired seeing what Chubb, Hunt and the Browns OL can do in the running game:
“One hundred percent. It is whatever it takes to win. The stats I could care less about, but the one stat that I care about is wins and losses. Our running game is something special when we get going, and we have to continue to improve that. We got back on track a little bit on Sunday, and we need to continue that and continue to improve as this year goes on because it is such a vital part about our offense but also our team. We talk about controlling the clock, momentum of the game and being able to put teams away when you are up by three points late in the game, having a four-minute drive to take time off the clock so our defense can get rested and then our pass rush can go after these guys and put pressure on them. It is fun to watch offensively just because it opens up things in our pass game, but it is a huge part of our team.”
On College GameDay heading to Oklahoma for Bedlam and any thoughts on the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game:
“What are you trying to stir up right now (laughter)? The little brother always needs to be put in his place, you know that.”
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