Right now – heading into week nine – the Cleveland Browns are 2-5. Equally important, quarterback Baker Mayfield is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with Jameis Winston with 12. While the Browns have a winnable game at Denver, no game is a free space for the Browns.
Obviously, the season is an unmitigated disaster as usual for the Browns. Recently, Mayfield lashed out at a reporter simply doing his job. Of course, he’s provided almost weekly fodder for blogs like this one to survive upon. For that, we thank Mayfield.
Now, his top receiving weapon Odell Beckham Jr. is coming to the defense of Mayfield. Following Thursday’s practice in Cleveland, Beckham talked about what life is all about. This included avoiding negativity, and saying that Mayfield can’t be blamed entirely for the multitude of the Browns’ problems.
Here’s some of what Odell Beckham had to say today in defense of Baker Mayfield. Feels criticism has been unfair and negativity sells – story & full video on https://t.co/Qlz5ZftBIV soon pic.twitter.com/jhex5NvUnc
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 31, 2019
First, Beckham says it’s just not all on the quarterback.
“You can’t sit here and say it’s all on him. You have to take a look at everything going on around him,” Beckham said. “Obviously, he has to play better. I have to player better. … We all need to do better. Can’t sit back and be like, ‘It’s Baker’s fault.’ I feel like that’s the easiest thing for us to do. I’ve been in situations where one person is getting the blame, and the rest of the people are quiet to kind of stay out of the fire.”
However, Beckham has been in the NFL long enough to know that comes with the territory of playing quarterback in the league. Moreover, he was in New York his entire career before this. He watched a New York Giants fan base and media shred Eli Manning; a player who has won two Super Bowls. By comparison, Manning never gave the media material to run with like Mayfield continues to do.
When a quarterback is playing bad and the team isn’t winning, this is all only natural. Keep in mind that when you’re a figure like Mayfield, you’re inviting trouble at your doorstep. Still, Beckham will fight crime back to back with his quarterback any day.
“I’m going to jump in the fire with him. I’ll be the first one. Some of these losses are on me. I need to be in the right place at the right time. I’m going to do better. And that’s what I plan to do for the rest of the season.”
So there you have it. Odell Beckham Jr. is jumping into the fire with Mayfield, and that may not be a good thing.
