Baker Mayfield isn’t pretending the Cleveland Browns are just another opponent.
After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped their season opener to the Cincinnati Bengals, Mayfield was already looking ahead to Sunday’s home game against Cleveland - the team that traded him away after the 2021 season. He didn’t turn it into a revenge speech, but he didn’t try to erase the storyline, either.
“I mean, obviously, there’s history there - there’s no way to go around that,” Mayfield said after Sunday’s loss.
Mayfield had a shot at Cleveland in 2022 while he was with the Carolina Panthers, and that game ended in a loss. This time, he’ll face the Browns with Tampa Bay, a team that looks stronger around him and with Mayfield playing better individually. Still, he kept steering the conversation back to the same point: the next game is the one that matters.
“It’s the next opponent,” Mayfield said. “Cleveland happens to be the next opponent - our home opener.
So, yeah. Have a bad taste in our mouth, looking forward to getting it out.
“It’s still the next one, and that’s the most important one,” Mayfield added. “I’ve said that to you guys over the years - it doesn’t matter who it is, the most important one is the next one.
And we’ve got - I’ve got to get some stuff fixed. And we’ve got to move forward.”
Before the Browns even came up, Mayfield owned the loss to Cincinnati. He finished 23-of-28 for 216 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, but three fumbles told the story of the game.
“This one falls on me,” Mayfield said. “I mean, they had, I think, 17 points alone off of my turnovers. Turns out to be a one-score game - six points.”
Now he gets a chance to answer against his old team.
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