CLEVELAND — There was plenty of hype surrounding the Cleveland Browns heading into the 2019 season because of the offseason acquisition of Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and the successes quarterback Baker Mayfield, running back Nick Chubb and defensive end Myles Garrett had in 2018.
With that hype comes the opposite, the focus of the spotlight on the problems being encountered by the offense over the first three weeks of the season, which has led to the Browns’ 1-2 record heading into Sunday’s AFC North Division opener against the Baltimore Ravens in Maryland.
But rather than listening to the criticisms, the Browns are focused on making improvements.
“I think it is something that you really have to be conscious of because you are surrounded by an environment where you hear a lot of things, stuff pops up on your phone and stuff is on the TV,” Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “It is just people talking. You just have to make a conscious decision to protect your locker room, take care of your guys and block out the negative stuff. When they are patting you on the back, to me, that is even worse.
“I think (it’s) being singularly focused on the week ahead. The most important game is this next one. We have watched the film, we have talked about the mistakes and stuff we need to talk about. You correct that, and then, you move forward. Being focused on the goal and the task at hand is very important.”
Although the Browns have been blocking out the outside noise, they did fire back at former NFL coach Rex Ryan for his comments about Mayfield’s play, where he called the second-year signal-caller a “one-read” quarterback who was “overrated as hell.”
“In the wise words of Freddie Kitchens, ‘If you do not wear orange and brown, you do not matter,’ and Rex Ryan does not have any colors right now for a reason, so it is okay,” Mayfield quipped.
Ryan’s comments came after early-season inconsistencies in Mayfield’s play.
With Kitchens calling the plays as interim offensive coordinator for the second half of the 2018 season, Mayfield completed 180 of his 263 attempts (68.4 percent) for 2,254 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions, but it has been a struggle for him thus far in 2019.
During Sunday night’s 20-13 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Mayfield completed 18 of his 36 attempts (50 percent) for 195 yards and one touchdown with an interception on the Browns’ last offensive play of the game, a fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line that was taken away off of a deflection.
Three games into his second NFL season, Mayfield has completed 62 of his 109 attempts (56.9 percent) for 805 yards with three touchdowns, five interceptions, 14 20-yard throws and one 40-yard pass, all while taking 11 sacks for 81 lost yards.
Despite the struggles through the first three weeks of the season, Mayfield is confident things will turn around for the offense in short order.
“I think we are very close,” Mayfield said. “I think we are very close to putting together the game that our offense needs to have. Like I keep saying, eliminating the mistakes. Everybody doing their job on every play. Stuff is going to happen during the game and you are going to have to adjust, but I think we are very close.”