QB Baker Mayfield (11.22.20)
QB Baker Mayfield:
On the Browns defense making big plays despite Myles Garrett being out:
“Yeah, obviously that is not a one-man job to fill those shoes. I know that is probably the most cliché thing, but it is just the truth. We had a ton of guys step up. When they knew that Myles was out, they knew they had to get funky on the field, and just like an old batch of collard greens, they just played well together.”
On if the defense fed off each other when they were making big plays:
“Absolutely. You could tell their energy was extremely high. They could sense in the weather games they were able to be really aggressive and make those plays. Hats off to those guys. They played unbelievable.”
On how hard it was to throw the ball and catch the ball in the rain:
“Normally, it is really not too bad in the rain games because you are able to sub the ball in and out, but there were a few times where it was just sitting there in the rain and it got pretty wet. No excuses, but still, it is pretty tough to throw a soaking wet ball. It is definitely harder to catch it in the rain. Unless you have the true rain weather gloves on, they are going to be pretty slick.”
On his play during today’s weather game compared to previous weather games with high winds:
“There are definitely a few plays that I would love to have back today – there is no doubt about that – but we have consistently for the most part taken care of the ball in these bad weather games. That is the key to winning those. We have done a good job of that. We can learn from these and obviously get better on some of it, but you just have to deal with the climates. Both teams have to adjust and adapt, and we just did a good job taking care of the ball today.”
On RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt during the TD drive in the fourth quarter:
“We have the best backfield in the league. There is no question. Those guys are top five backs each, and there is something special. We have great guys up front and our tight ends are involved in that run game, but those two guys are extremely special. I get more excited when Nick and Kareem make great plays than when I do just to be quite honest with you guys. I love watching those guys run. I’m very happy to have them on our team. Whatever it takes to win, I don’t care if that’s handing the ball off every single time. We are happy to go 1-0 each week. We have two great backs.”
On the advantage of having Chubb and Hunt together to wear down defenses:
“We have done a great job of sticking with the plan in the first half of some of these bad weather games. Haven’t been great and teams are competing with the run game. We are able to stick with the plan in the second half, and these guys are breaking tackles. Like we said, they feed off of each other. It is somewhat fresh legs in the second half whereas these guys are still trying to tackle them the whole game. They feed off each other, but today was a great example of some of those runs that didn’t pop early on that did late in the game.”
On the Eagles limiting the run game in the first half:
“They were just the more physical team in the first half. They had some good stuff called. They were pretty aggressive. I think that’s where our keeper game kind of kept them off balance. Some of our cadence, we had them jumping a little bit on their toes. We just realized that if we stuck to the plan and used all those things that the run game was eventually going to hit. Don’t get away from it just because it is not working in the first half.”
On sticking to the gameplan this season:
“If you overthink it, it is pretty easy to get away from the plan. Our staff is doing a great job of just sticking to what we are really good at, and that is our run game and our play-action game. When we need it, we can absolutely hit on that stuff. That is the great part about it. We are not getting away from the plan. We are trusting exactly what we have planned throughout the week. It is our gameplan that we are just sticking with and running and executing when we need to.”
On if Head Coach Kevin Stefanski’s demeanor and calmness translates to the Browns offense’s confidence:
“I think our confidence is building offensively for sure. Obviously, the defense speaks for itself. When we are able to go in at halftime and realize we are very close to some of these runs popping and some of these being really big plays and just being able to take a deep breath and just evaluate where we are at and come in with the plan of attack, we are pretty good at adjusting.”
On how frustrating it was to come up short at the goal line in the first half and RB Kareem Hunt’s TD run in the second half:
“He was pretty mad at himself early in the game when we did not convert, even we had two chances to throw a touchdown before that. He was mad at himself for not getting in just based on the effort. Yeah, he was not going to let anybody deny him late in the game.”
On Hunt’s hurdle on the TD run:
“It was like he never stops going up. I mean he jumped and just kept levitating. It is like a Super Mario double-bounce. I do not know.”
On how nice it was to throw deep today and how important that will be moving forward:
“It is huge for us just to be able to keep defenses on their toes and just all of those were off to play-action shots. We are making stuff look similar to run and pass. These guys are doing a good job of just securing the ball for us in these weather games. It is a huge part of our offense.”
On LB Sione Takitaki’s pick-six:
“(CB) Denzel (Ward) came in and got contact on (Eagles QB) Carson (Wentz) and made the ball get up in the air a little bit. Taki being able to secure that ball, not lose stride and go score that, that created the spark for us because we were a little bit at a stalemate on offense, so that was huge.”
On how important the recent wins are even if they looked ‘ugly’ at times:
“We are worried about the singular focus. A win is a win. We will take it, no matter or however we get there. We will take it. The defense is playing lights out. You might call it ugly, but Coach Stefanski called it beautiful after the game. Complementary ball is what we did to accomplish that win today.”
On if the recent wins have shown the grit and resilience that the team needs down the stretch:
“Yeah, I think when we have a singular focus and that singular mindset of just one game at a time and we can be pretty good. Not lose sight of the big picture, one game at a time but job is not finished yet.”
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