BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Baker Mayfield won’t allow a torn labrum and fracture of the top of the humerus bone in his left shoulder to sideline him for an extended period of time.
Mayfield does not want to go on injured reserve to allow the injury to heal, instead he plans to risk it and play this weekend against T.J. Watt and the Steelers.
“I’m not looking at that,” Mayfield said Wednesday when asked if IR was a consideration.
“I’m looking at taking it day-by-day. I think you guys know how I am, I want to be out there playing and like I said last week, if it’s a situation where I’d hurt the team if I was out there playing, I’m not going to do it.”
That also means Mayfield doesn’t plan to shut it down for the season.
“No, people talk on the outside [but] they don’t know how I feel nor do they decide if I can go or not,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield, who wore a special padded brace for his left shoulder under his pads Wednesday, was limited according to the team’s injury report.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski was noncommittal about Mayfield’s availability Sunday against Pittsburgh.
“We will see how he does at practice and then we will take it day by day,” Stefanski said.
During the portion of practice open to reporters Mayfield was careful not to raise his left arm too much, but he did take the normal quarterback handoff and throwing reps during positional drills.
The 2018 No. 1 overall pick originally dislocated the shoulder and tore his labrum while trying to make a tackle following an interception in the second quarter of a 31-21 win over the Texans on September 19 but he did not miss a snap.
Mayfield dislocated the same shoulder in the third quarter of a 37-14 loss to Arizona on October 17 when defensive end J.J. Watt strip-sacked him.
If Mayfield is unable to go this weekend, Case Keenum would be called upon to start his second consecutive game, but he won’t get many practice reps in the meantime as Stefanski sticks to his normal routine of giving Mayfield the vast majority of the work.
“I do not know the exact number, but as a backup in this league, you are expected to perform without reps,” Stefanski said. “That is kind of what Case did last week.”
Keenum completed 21 of 33 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown in the 17-14 win over the Broncos.
Mayfield’s consecutive starts streak dating back to Week 4 of the 2018 season was snapped at 53 games, including playoffs, last week when he was inactive for the 17-14 win over the Broncos.
“For me, it was pretty important because looking at all of the dysfunction I had to overcome to be able to start the whole time and be able to stay healthy,” Mayfield said. “That was important to me but that’s an individual thing and it’s more about winning.”
Mayfield said it was just the third game he’d missed “in my entire life. I’m not about missing practice or playing time.”
Although having Mayfield play wiyth Stefanski
Mayfield confirmed that he was advised not to play last week but he wanted and thought he would be able to until he practiced last Tuesday where it was determined he would need to rest.
“I am not exactly a doctor. I do not know how long it takes for those things to heal, but it was mostly about the inflammation so I can get that range of motion and that strength back,” Mayfield said. “That is where we are, and that is what we are continuing to evaluate.”
