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- Mar 18, 2019
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Baker Mayfield ranks 31st in passer rating with a 67.8, behind even the likes of Mitchell Trubisky, Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston. His 12 interceptions are tied with Winston for the league lead.
The Browns, who entered with Super Bowl aspirations, are only 2-5 and three games behind the Ravens in the AFC North.
Nothing has gone to plan, which makes it hard to defend Mayfield.
But Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. did a good job of that Thursday, saying he’s “ready to jump in the fire with him.”
“I’m going to be the first one here to defend him every single time. I’ve always got his back,” Beckham said, via Jake Trotter of ESPN.
Mayfield’s frustrations boiled over Wednesday when he walked off after a question not to his liking that ended a back-and-forth with a reporter with whom he long has had a problem with.
Beckham said he has advised Mayfield to tune out his critics.
“I told him already. I told him this since I’ve been here. I said, ‘Bro, Drake said it best. He said, ‘In this game, you only lose when you fight back,'” Beckham said, via video from Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “There is no winning. You could put together the perfect six-sentence thesis, and it’s amazing, and there’s still going to be those two people that are like [grumbling]. It’s just how it is. There’s no winning in this world. It’s a world filled of negativity. I think the biggest downfall we could have in this world, and that’s sarcastic, it would be for everybody to be positive. We know negativity sells. We know all that stuff is better than being positive and upbeat, so that’s what we dig; we thrive. We’re looking for the one little thing. I try and watch my words and one line gets taken. It’s like all right, well, that’s not what I said. There were a whole eight lines leading up to that, but this is all you took from it. I understand life. I understand how it goes. I understand that we’re looking for the negative. At the end of the day, we’re human. He wants to win. He’s upset he’s not winning or he hasn’t done to the best of his ability. That’s upsetting.”
Beckham said he understands Mayfield’s frustration with reporters.
“I’ve oftentimes answered questions with too much authenticity, and it gets taken and used against me, and it’s like I come up here and I respect you,” Beckham said. “Not to say you don’t respect me, but I’m a human. Don’t play with me. I don’t like being played with. It’s a mutual respect thing. At times, it feels like that’s lost. We’re only human. I don’t have time to deal with that. I mean, it’s like I’m good. I’m not going to put my energy in a place to where it’s going to put me in a negative space. I’m going to keep my energy for me and keep moving.”
The quarterback often gets too much credit and too much blame, and Beckham said there is plenty of blame to go around. Beckham has 34 catches for 488 yards and only one score this season.
“Some of the criticism that’s been on him is like you can’t sit here and say it’s all on him,” Beckham said. “We have to take a look at everything that’s going on around him. Obviously, he has to play better. I have to play better. Jarvis [Landry] has to play better. Chubbs [Nick Chubb]. We all have to do better. We all need to do better. You can’t sit there and be like, ‘It’s Baker’s fault.'”