Before being drafted by the Browns, Baker Mayfield’s biggest football moment in Ohio came when he led Oklahoma to a win over Ohio State in Columbus.
Mayfield planted the OU flag at midfield after that game in a move that wasn’t met with laughter from Buckeye partisans. Many of those partisans are also Browns fans, but, as Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley wrote on Twitter, all is likely forgiven now.
Mayfield replaced an injured Tyrod Taylor with the Browns down 14-0 in the second quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Jets and led them to a 21-17 win that snapped a 19-game winless streak in front of a raucous home crowd.
Mayfield was 17-of-23 for 201 yards on the way to the win and he also caught a two-point conversion. All in all, not a bad way for the first overall pick to break the seal of his NFL career.
“I feel like people have been talking about it for a while,” Mayfield said, via Cleveland.com. “I’ve just been waiting for my moment. I’ve been patient. I’ve been in a good opportunity, put in a good situation with the guys around me -- veteran QBs and great coaches that I can learn from. I was never whining or complaining about playing time. I just want the team to win, no matter what the cost is.”
Browns coach Hue Jackson didn’t say Mayfield will start against the Raiders in Week Four. The decision may be academic if Taylor isn’t cleared from the concussion protocol and there are likely plenty of people in Cleveland who feel its academic regardless of Taylor’s condition.