It seems like the fathers of Cleveland Browns players can’t help but offer up their two cents on the team’s starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield. This time it is Kareem Hunt Sr., only 27 days after Odell Beckham Sr., who shared his thoughts.
The elder Hunt took to his Facebook page and commented “I’m stating facts on football and what we see is he’s limping, he’s scared to throw the ball and they know he’s hurt.”
https://twitter.com/Inman16Austin/status/1465182309016035330?s=20
The Browns lost 16-10 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Nov. 28. Mayfield completed 18 of 37 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. Not a bad game. But not good either.
Over the past three games the Browns have scored 36 total points and are 1-2. The lone win came against the horrendous 0-10-1 Detroit Lions.
Mayfield has been nicked up as the Browns enter their bye week. FS1’s Nick Wright believes injuries are partly responsible for Mayfield’s lackluster play.
"Baker Mayfield's too hurt to play. They were playing Baker as if he were healthy. This is an abject failure of a season for the Browns. They're not going to make the playoffs. They had a 2-year head start on Cincinnati for the rebuild & Cincinnati's way ahead." — @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/jgyWAFsRYT
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) November 29, 2021
But head coach Kevin Stefanski made it clear that a quarterback change won’t happen when the Browns host the Ravens in Week 14 and he’s sticking with Mayfield.
“It’s frustrating. It is very frustrating,” Stefanski said via NFL.com. “To not score enough, it’s always a combination of things — staying on the field on third down, trying to run the ball effectively and getting in the red zone, all of those things. But we’re just not doing a good enough job, and that starts with me.”
It’s great that Stefanski is backing his quarterback, but aren’t we running out of excuses for Mayfield? He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. A draft that included Josh Allen and Sunday’s opponent Lamar Jackson.
Allen has been an All-Pro and Pro Bowl team member, and Jackson has already been league MVP. Yeah, the Browns missed on this one.
We were also told Odell Beckham Jr. was the problem in Cleveland. Well, he’s gone now and things look exactly the same.
Despite the outside noise from teammates’ parents, Mayfield remains confident.
“For starters, everybody getting healthy [is important],” Mayfield said of the bye week. “Last year, with no preseason games or anything and with a new system, that was kind of a crucial point for us with everybody kind of doing self-scouting and realizing what we were good at, what we needed to focus on. So I imagine that’s going to be the same mentality — get better, focus on what we’re good at, continue to grow in those packages and fix our weaknesses. … I think there’s a lot of plays to be made that we just haven’t done it. And we’re good enough to do so, but we haven’t shown that.”
When a team is sputtering there is often enough blame to go around. Quarterbacks get too much credit for wins and too much blame for losses. But the fact is Mayfield hasn’t been good. Is that due to injuries, poor offensive line play, difficult teammates? It’s likely a little of everything.
Baker Mayfield Needs To Shut Up And Let His Wing Do The Talking
He is 28-28 as a starter and the third-best quarterback in his division. He ranks 26th out of 32 in QBR and has only 11 touchdown passes. That’s pedestrian and the No. 1 overall pick should be performing at a higher level.l,
For now it looks like the Browns are riding with Mayfield and will continue to give him chances to prove he is the No. 1 pick that was promised. If only NFL teams allowed all quarterbacks that kind of time and opportunity.
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