For the first time in a long, long time the Cleveland Browns will be entering an NFL season with realistic and lofty expectations for their upcoming campaign.
After getting their first playoff win since the rebirth of the franchise in 1999, the Browns look like a legitimate contender in the AFC this season. Taking the Kansas City Chiefs to the wire in the Divisional Round also speaks to the potential of the the team moving forward.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said in an interview during the TNT broadcast of The Match on Tuesday that the team setting their own expectations and managing them will be a key factor for the team to work through this fall.
“We definitely had a lot of conversations about, you know, expectations come within our own locker room,” Mayfield said, via Baillie Burmaster of Cleveland 19. “You set your own standards. You can’t listen to the outside stuff and that’s what matters. You can feed into the good stuff or the bad and it’s all going to negatively affect you. So we have to do a good job of keeping our guys focused one day, one week at a time.”
Mayfield has been happy with the group he’s seen so far during the offseason and believes the new additions to the team fit well with what already existed as holdovers from last year’s roster.
“All the moves that we’ve made to bring some of these guys in, obviously really talented people but it seems like it’s a bunch of locker room guys, good chemistry going on,” Mayfield said. “I’m excited to get this thing running.”