WHAT IS BAKER MAYFIELD REALLY THINKING?
By STEVE KING
If you’re Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, what are you thinking?
No, not what you are thinking – and saying, or, as it were, trying to say – when the media asks you questions. For fear of not uttering something stupid or out of line that gets you called onto the carpet of Browns head coach Hue Jackson’s office, and because of the fact that, even though you’re brash, outspoken, very confident and chomping at the bit to play, you’ve been put into in a small, tight box that really constricts you to the point that you don’t say much of anything. And what you do say is mostly player-speak, which is just as mind-numbing as coach-speak.
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Instead of all that, what are you really, truly thinking, and sharing only with those closest to you – those you can trust? What is burning in your heart, mind and soul? What is churning in your gut?
You’re stuck on the bench behind Travis Taylor, who, in his Browns debut last Sunday, did a really good imitation of Paul McDonald. But Jackson is firmly in his corner, so, barring an injury, Taylor isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So you’re left waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting … for who knows how long.
Meanwhile, Josh Allen is starting for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. He might end up getting beaten to a pulp – the Buffalo offensive line couldn’t pass protect against Ohio State, Alabama or Clemson – but at least for this game, he will be starting.
Sam Darnold, the guy who some people still think should have been taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Browns instead of you, will get his second consecutive start on Sunday for the New York Jets and will start against Cleveland on Thursday night on national TV.
But you’re not playing.
How does that feel? How hard is it for you to get through this, and to keep your mouth shut?
But you know you have to, so you just tough it out.
So, then, what are you really thinking?
I think I know. I think everybody in the free world knows.
