Baker Mayfield had a very busy summer break. Along with winning an ESPY award and asking his girlfriend to marry him, it appears the number one overall pick did spend some time studying the playbook.
After five days of training camp, the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback is making progress in Todd Haley’s offense. It doesn’t mean there is a battle for the starting quarterback job. Tyrod Taylor is still the number one signal caller.
Baker Mayfield to Julian Allen. pic.twitter.com/SGSSYSukdF
— Dan Labbe (@dan_labbe) July 30, 2018
“Consistency is definitely key, and that is what I am trying to make sure I am doing,” Mayfield said before Monday’s practice. “Like I said, trying to get a little bit better each day, whether it is focusing on taking care of the ball or protections. You have over 20 days of training camp so Drew gave me a little piece of advice – focus on a couple things each day and try to take care of that so you are really working on getting better with all the details. That is what I am trying to do.”
Head coach Hue Jackson is taking notice at the work his rookie signal caller has done over the first five practices. Is it surprising at how well Mayfield is doing so far in his first NFL training camp?
.@bakermayfield was involved in a couple of great plays today: perfect ball to @derrickwjr, and check out @CALLME_WOOD's catch 👀👀
🎥: @DaveoKindo_73
#Browns #3Browns #DawgPound @wkyc pic.twitter.com/7aq8E0VN6e— Pat Chiesa (@PatChiesa) July 29, 2018
“Yes, between Coach Haley and (quarterbacks) Coach (Ken) Zampese and my every now and ten, little prod, he has done a really good job,” Jackson said. “He spends a lot of time here in the building. To me, he and Tyrod probably should just sleep here. These guys are here 24/7 doing everything that they need to do, along with Drew. That is good for that group.”
“That is exciting to hear, but that does not mean I am satisfied,” Mayfield said. “I always say that I set my own expectations and set my own standard. I have to live up to that. I’m not done working. We are going into Day 5 of practice so I am still working. I have a lot of progress to make so if I can get a little bit better each day, then I am doing something right.”
“I think that he has refined some things,” Jackson said. “He has worked really hard in the off season to improve on the mechanical things that we wanted him to. I do see that. He is growing. I said that yesterday, and I will continue to say that. I am impressed with that because he is going that way. That is important. Like all the young guys, you will hit a wall at some point, and we will bring him through it. He has done some nice things, but Tyrod Taylor has done some nice things and Drew Stanton has done some nice things. It is a fun situation to have with the guys that we have.”
Mayfield’s next test comes on Friday when the Browns conduct a team scrimmage for day eight of training camp. Mayfield’s first game action should take place in preseason game number one August 9 at the New York Giants.
Scott Piker is the Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage Browns.
