Broadway Joe
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Browns took a 23-3 lead with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter. Yet, Baker Mayfield played all 69 snaps as backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert remained on the sideline.
Coach Freddie Kitchens said he never considered taking out Mayfield.
“No. He’s our quarterback,’’ Kitchens said, via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “I wanted to make that last third down. Not to say that Garrett couldn’t, but I wanted Baker to do it.’’
There were obvious reasons why the prudent thing would have been to pull Mayfield. Odell Beckham called out Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams earlier in the week for dialing up dirty hits, and the Browns saw how injures can happen when Jets quarterback Trevor Siemian was injured on an illegal hit by Myles Garrett.
But Kitchens said his philosophy is to play until the clock hits zero no matter the score.
“We’re going to finish the game,’’ Kitchens said. “That’s what we preach is finish the game, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We were trying to get a first down.”