CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Despite not having a regular offseason to put a difficult 2019 behind him, Baker Mayfield made the most of his time quarantined in Texas.
Mayfield worked out on his own and held workouts with a few teammates as well while learning new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s new offense through a computer monitor.
The results of Mayfield’s efforts drew praise from executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry Tuesday in a Zoom video conference call with reporters.
“He came back and added four pounds of lean mass, cut body fat and came back in terrific shape,” Berry said.
Mayfield has made it no secret he understands how important this year is to him as he enters his third NFL season ready to prove the doubters wrong, again.
“Baker has really been outstanding this entire spring and summer – level of engagement with the coaching staff, getting up to speed mentally with the system and his interaction with his teammates,” Berry said.
To say Mayfield struggled last season would be an understatement but the environment around him under former head coach Freddie Kitchens was not conducive to growth, hence the coaching change.
His completion percentage dropped from 63.8 as a rookie to 59.4% last year. He threw five fewer touchdowns in three more starts and seven more interceptions than he did as a rookie despite being given one of the league’s most prolific weapons in receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
None of that matters now as the 2018 No. 1 pick aims to prove his worthiness of the pick, and earn a massive contract extension next year.
“I know he is really excited about the upcoming season,” Berry said, “and he has done a really nice job of what I would call almost creating community and really bringing guys together, as difficult as that can be as everybody has really been trying to function virtually. We are all really excited about him entering the year.”
