No matter how many times he’s asked or how well Baker Mayfield performs, Browns coach Hue Jackson insists he won’t change his mind. Barring injury, Tyrod Taylor will begin the season as the team’s starting quarterback.
It is not an open competition despite the No. 1 overall pick “exceeding expectations.”
“No, I do not have temptation that way. No,” Jackson said Monday, via quotes distributed by the team. “Baker Mayfield is doing great. Tyrod Taylor is doing great. This thing is going to play out just like I told you it would. I am not going to change. I think that you guys are judging every day what happens and ‘this might happen; that might happen.’ No. I am not like that. We are going to grow our football team. We are going to grow our quarterbacks. Tyrod Taylor is our quarterback. Baker Mayfield is competing and getting better each and every day, still learning the National Football League. Has done a really nice job of learning our system and improving every day. Tyrod Taylor has too, and so has Drew Stanton. We have a really good room. I am excited about our room.”
The better question might be: Who begins the season as the Browns’ No. 2 quarterback? Will Mayfield beat out Stanton for the job?
Former No. 1 overall pick Tim Couch encouraged the Browns to have patience with Mayfield. They didn’t show patience with Couch, and no one will ever know how that impacted his career.