QB Baker Mayfield (9.26.21)
On how it felt to have WR Odell Beckham Jr. back on the field today:
“It felt good. Obviously, losing a guy like (WR) Jarvis (Landry), one of our key skill players, you have to have people step up so it was a blessing to have the late registration of (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) come in and play for us.”
On the adjustments by the Browns offense for the pass game early in the game:
“They are very talented up front. There is no other way around it. Our O line is great, as well, but whenever you play a team like that, you have to find ways to eliminate their strength. I have to get the ball out of my hands quicker and have to find ways to eliminate that to where they do not get that smell of the blood in the water, the saying the ‘feeding frenzy.’ Have to get the ball out of my hands and eliminate that.”
On RB Kareem Hunt’s performance, particularly in the second quarter:
“He is a great back. I think just the look in his eye, everybody could tell the way he was running. It seemed angry – angrier than usual. When that happens, just find a way to get him the ball.”
On how he would describe DE Myles Garrett after today’s performance:
“He is a Monstar, man. 4.5 sacks, right? That is unreal. He is out there eating – watch the throne with him. (Bears QB) Justin Fields slips the sack late with Myles and then he turns the corner and hello, (DE) Jadeveon Clowney. Those guys are playing well with each other. I did not realize what he had said prior leading up to this week. He lived up to the hype, and they delivered.”
On if he could tell how tired Beckham was today, given Beckham said he was ‘exhausted’:
“The game reps and all of the extra effort you have – chasing a run play down – whereas in practice, you are not trying to bury your teammate in practice. It is just those extra efforts, and we had a lot of plays on offense today. A lot of time of possession, I think we had 20 minutes in the first half so that is a lot for him coming back for the first game. You could tell, but he wil get quick. He will be fine.
On if he felt a sense the Browns defense was getting tired of hearing the outside criticism about their performance the first two games:
“Not exactly. We do not talk about all of that outside stuff. We try to keep it within the building. They were energetic this whole week of practice. You could tell they were locked in. If that is the difference, then sure, but there was not any talk about that within the building.”
On the potential for the Browns offense:
“We are continuing to get better and finding ways to win. There is never going to be a point where you feel like you have reached that graduation level and you have mastered the offensive system. You always want to try and improve. For us, we each have that mindset of not being college dropouts, continuing to get better and finding ways to win.”
On how he would describe ‘the angry look’ Hunt and if he has to tell teammates or coaches when it is happening:
“It is pretty obvious. I would hope it is obvious.”
On how much of a weapon K Chase McLaughlin was today:
“We would like to have more success on third downs and being able to get closer to finish in the red zone, high-red fringe area, but he was on point today. That is a great bailout when you are playing a team that is obviously very stiff on the defensive side of the ball. Being able to get three points on some of these drives is important. For him to kick like that, that is pretty special.”
On the importance of the TD right before the half:
“We had talked about it – we needed to go score just to help the defense out. They were playing lights out and to give them some assurance that they were going to have the freedom to play aggressive. We needed to do that. It was just an emphasis to do that. Fortunately, we strung some good plays together, went down there and were able to score a touchdown. (TE Austin) Hoop (Hooper) made a great play. That was a good drive for us.”
On his confidence in the TD pass to Hooper:
“In the huddle, we had the play called, and I told him to be ready for a two-high safety defense and knowing that he was going to win. Just trying to get the ball in his hands as quick as possible, and he did a great job of beating the middle linebacker.”
More on the ‘angry look’ of Hunt:
“If you watch the game, you can tell by the way he runs that it is always angry, but today, it was pretty special. When he gets in the open field and he delivers contact – he is open and there is just one guy left – and when he finds a guy to go run into and create contact, that is when you know you are in the zone. That’s the Life of Pablo for Kareem.”
On how RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt can make plays, even when they look to be tackled for a loss:
“It is very rare for either of our backs to be tackled by one individual so for them to be able to do that, it gives us a bailout. On some of these early check downs, the mindset is to drop it down to them early, and there was a guy that met him at the line of scrimmage and he somehow pulls a positive play out of it. That is a blessing for us to have on the offensive side of the ball.”
On the confidence in WR Donovan Peoples-Jones:
“Donovan is a guy – I mentioned it earlier this week- that he is not ever going to ever get the credit he truly deserves. He is a guy who puts in the work week in and week out, shows up on Sundays for us and we are lucky to have him. He is willing to do whatever it takes to win. Fortunately, we have a lot of guys like that. He gets overshadowed a little bit, but we truly appreciate it.”
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