After Browns tight end David Njoku turned a pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield into a 66-yard gain against the Bengals in Sunday’s win, CBS cameras showed Mayfield staring at the Bengals sideline for a long time as he made his way down the field.
The announcers noted that former Browns head coach and current Bengals assistant Hue Jackson was in Mayfield’s sightline “for what felt like an eternity.” Given the quarterback’s past statements about and interactions with Jackson, it wasn’t hard to imagine Mayfield staring his former coach down but he denied that was his intent when asked about the moment after the game.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Mayfield said, via ESPN.com.
Mayfield was grinning while looking at the Cincinnati sideline and has good reason to feel good about things right now. The Browns are 5-2 since Jackson was fired and the rookie continued to shine by going 27-of-37 for 284 yards and three touchdowns to complete the sweep of the Bengals.
A win next week would give the Browns their first winning season since 2007 and send the team into the offseason with a lot more optimism about the future than there was during the Jackson era.