Shortly before Conor McGregor knocked out Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds in the main event of UFC 246 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, cameras caught Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett sitting cageside, but failed to acknowledge the teammate sitting next to him: Baker Mayfield.
But as he was leaving T-Mobile Arena following McGregor's quick victory, the Browns' quarterback didn't go unrecognized by a TMZ reporter waiting outside, who captured Mayfield's first public thoughts of his team's hiring of head coach Kevin Stefanski.
"I'm very happy," Mayfield replied when asked for his thoughts on the Stefanski hiring. "Very happy."
In hiring Stefanski, who most recently served as the Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator, the Browns are hoping to help Mayfield bounce back from a disappointing 2019 season. After breaking the NFL's rookie record for passing touchdowns with 27 in 2018, the former No. 1 pick ranked 31st in the league in passer rating (78.8) and second in interceptions thrown (21) as Cleveland amassed a disappointing 6-10 record in 2019.
As a result of the Browns' underwhelming campaign, as well as Mayfield's apparent regression, the team fired head coach Freddie Kitchens after just one year. In his place, Cleveland hired the 37-year-old Stefanski, who cited Mayfield's presence as one of the most appealing parts about coaching the Browns.
"He is the quarterback. He is the trigger man and that is the exciting part for me. I worked with a lot of quarterbacks, a lot of great ones over the years, and I am looking forward to hunkering down with him and getting to work," Stefanski said of Mayfield at his introductory press conference last week. "Baker, as a young player, the sky is the limit, but we are going to put in the work to get it done with Baker.
"I am still in the infancy of studying last year and will identify some things as we get going. Certainly, when you are talking about this job and this franchise and everything that goes with it, you think about the quarterback. I think the sky is the limit for the kid."
Stefanski wasn't the only member of the Browns organization that Mayfield commented on as he made his way out of the fight. Asked about Garrett, who is currently serving an indefinite suspension after hitting Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in the head with his helmet in November, Mayfield said the 2018 Pro Bowl selection is doing well.
"I sat next to him during the fight, he's good, man," Mayfield said of Garrett. "He's in a good place right now, which is good for us as a team."