CLEVELAND -- Plenty of prospective NFL quarterbacks and those already in the league spend offseasons honing their skills with so-called “quarterback gurus,” but Cleveland Browns rookie Baker Mayfield is not that kind of a player.
Instead of going across the country to work with different coaches, Mayfield is focused on maximizing his potential and learning the playbook now in an effort to be prepared for the start of training camp, which gets underway in late July.
“I’m not a ‘QB guru’ kind of guy,” Mayfield said. “I don’t think you can reinvent the wheel. I think the ones that have been through it and have played the game are the ones that I would bounce the most questions off of, but for me, it’s about perfecting my craft, and so, I need to learn this playbook.
“It’s not about going somewhere on a beach for a beach workout. It’s about learning this playbook, being able to play in weather and being with my teammates.”
To Mayfield, offseason routines are all about improving on his weaknesses, while also, increasing his strengths.
“I think for me, if you’re able to throw, you throw,” Mayfield said.
“That’s not something you can teach. For me, I’ve just always worked on getting a quicker release and being able to throw from different angles. That’s helped me out. Not being the toughest guy, I have to do that. I have to find windows, I have to find lanes to throw it, and so, those are the things that I worked on.”
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Mayfield has gotten no shortage of advice in recent days, but he is paying attention to those closest to him.
“I heard a bunch of things from very important people, including Mr. Dorsey just about staying ready to go,” Mayfield said. “It’s a whole process. You’re doing different types of workouts for The Combine and whatever that you do.
“It’s a lot of mental stuff to where you’re not actually doing the most workouts that you would want to. You’ve got to be ready to jump right into camp and hit the field running. You don’t need time to catch up. You’ve got to be able to go.”
And one of those people Mayfield has sought advice from is former NFL quarterback Chad Pennington, who has been in communication with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft since the Senior Bowl back in January.
“He’s part of the NFL Legends Community, so whenever they can help players now, because all those guys have been through it, they will,” Mayfield said. “Fortunately enough, I got a guy like him, whose played quarterback and been through it with different teams, played a lot of ball, and at The Combine, he was actually in my group. He was my guy.
“I was just around him a bunch, got his number and just talked, bounced a lot of things off of him, but he said the same things. ‘When you get there, just go to work. Things that have gotten you here have obviously worked for you, but don’t let it stop now. You haven’t made it yet.’ That’s the mentality you have to have. It doesn’t matter where I was drafted. You’ve got to start over.”
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