Browns: Expert calls doubters idiots if they think Baker Mayfield can’t play

Baker Mayfield is talented and Sean Salisbury is fed up with Browns fans.

It seems the Browns can’t go a week without someone doubting something about this team. Cue this week’s hot take target; Baker Mayfield. Mayfield had a hot start to the year, but an apparent shoulder injury to his non-throwing shoulder has limited his accuracy. Some will wonder why, as it’s not his throwing shoulder. Those people have probably never had a severe injury in their life and have no idea that even minor, everyday movement, can cause serious pain. Now imagine wearing 20 lbs worth of pads and whipping your entire upper body around for three to four hours every day.

You’re going to be in pain and that’s going to affect you. This isn’t to excuse him, like with Jedrick Wills, if Mayfields partially torn labrum is affecting his play, sitting him down isn’t the worst idea.

What this is to say, however, is exactly what Sean Salisbury said on Bull and Fox Show yesterday. Salisbury called out the fickle fans and essentially told them that if they thought Mayfield was a bad quarterback, then they were idiots.

Those are strong words but we do agree with his thought process; Mayfield is a good quarterback and fans overreact. Look at the Cavs. One bad preseason game had everyone predicting doom and gloom for Cleveland. They have no way of knowing what’s coming up, yet, they jumped up on the “end is nigh” bandwagon.

That’s no different for how people treat Mayfield, or quarterbacks in general. After all, Aaron Rodgers is still among the best in the league but he had a bad first game and everyone said he was done. He’s not looking so done now, is he?

Sean Salisbury is right and the Browns should feel lucky to have Baker Mayfield

Mayfield has elevated the Browns and has changed the culture but Salisbury is baffled that so many fans aren’t aware of how good they have it.

"I can’t believe when I go on social media and when I hear people talk about the fact that he the guy had a bad game ‘and that he’s no longer elite and we gotta replace him. Oh, we can trade Watson for him.’  You cannot be this frickin stupid.…One week he changed the culture by eight million fans and the next week cus he goes on the road, plays poorly, misses some easy throws – who for whatever reason, whether he’s hurt, I’m not a doctor I don’t know that, but I’ll be damned now we have to replace him. With what?! …I heard the same crap about Aaron Rodgers the very first week of the season against the Saints. ‘Guy can’t play.’ ‘It’s the offseason’, ‘The Packers are done’, Aaron’s a bad influence in the locker room’. How’s that taste after four weeks?"

Salisbury goes on to say that he’s not comparing Rodgers and Mayfield, nor is he making excuses but he also reiterates that everyone has bad games it’s just the quarterbacks are more obvious because they’re exposed. He also points out that he can’t believe fans think the quarterback position is easy to play and cites how much better Mayfield has been historically over the rest of the guys who’ve played the position in Cleveland.

The best point is that Salisbury makes is that everyone, even the greatest in the game, regardless of the sport, has bad games, citing Steph Curry, Tiger Woods, and Tom Brady as instances.

It should also be noted that Dustin Fox, a day before the shoulder-injury report came out, pointed out that Mayfield looked like he was playing hurt. So this wasn’t an out-of-the-blue theory. Mayfield had to leave the Texans game due to him attempting to make a tackle and getting clearly hurt. He left the field and no one knew if he’d be ok. So clearly that hit did more damage than we initially thought.