BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Team chemistry can make or break you.
With expectations at an all-time high coming off a season that saw the Browns reach the NFL’s version of the Elite 8 before exiting with a divisional round loss to Kansas City, Baker Mayfield understands the importance of chemistry for them to take the next step.
That’s why Mayfield along with Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper used the mandated three-day break on a weekend getaway to Big Sky, Montana.
“I think anytime you can spend more time off the field, you build chemistry,” Mayfield said Wednesday. “That three-day mandated time off from the league, just a chance to get away and do it safely, not exactly being around a whole lot of people. We'll benefit from that just based on bonding and that time off the field.”
The trip was an opportunity to hit the reset button and recharge before embarking on what is expected to be a long season.
“We played a lot of card games, some competitive things. It was great,” Mayfield said. “Those are the types of things you remember, you look back on and those trips. You look back on it and enjoy the year because of the friendships and the bonds you have.”
Mayfield posted a few pictures from the excursion on his Instagram account Wednesday morning.
Mayfield believes this year’s Browns team is closer than last year’s that saw them go 11-5 in the regular season and win a playoff game for the first time in 26 years.
“Absolutely, I think just based on the fact that we are able to be around each other,” Mayfield said. “You're going to see that improvement, just because of the trust, the open communication, all the things we're able to openly talk about.”
The weekend trip was news to head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“I was not invited to that either,” Stefanski joked. “I think it is great. I was not aware of it. They told me when they got back in, but any time you can get together away from this building safely and build the team chemistry, I think it is a big deal. It is something really last year you could not do. You just were prohibited from getting together outside of this building. Maybe they are making up for lost time.”
Since Stefanski took over in January 2020, he has tried to empower his players to take ownership of the team as well as their success or failure, and his approach seems to be paying off.
“We have a bunch of players in my opinion who are really good leaders, and they do it in a bunch of different ways – some are vocal, and some are not,” Stefanski said. “I am always encouraging guys to be themselves and be the best version of themselves. I think that is ultimately what will ring true with your peers and with your teammates.”
In addition to ski slopes, which are closed for the summer, the resort, located in the Rocky Mountains in southern Montana near Yellowstone National Park, features a golf course as well as a lined football field, which they took advantage of.
“I think No. 12 down in Tampa Bay had something to do with that one,” Mayfield said of the field.
While Kevin Stefanski rightly deserves credit for the reversal of the franchise’s fortunes, it wouldn’t be possible without the players themselves taking ownership of their success, and failures.
Mayfield is among those that have led that charge since he assumed the starting role early in the 2018 season.
“We want to have that,” Mayfield said. “That's the kind of team that we have. That's why I keep saying the people that we've brought in, the pieces, culture-wise, it's been great for the team, for the franchise, and it needs to continue to head that way. That's one of my biggest jobs.”
Much has been made of Mayfield’s chemistry with Beckham.
The numbers don't paint a pretty picture and with Beckham limited during training camp and held out of team reps, the two made the most of their time on the field.
With Beckham healthy, it'll be incumbent upon Mayfield not to zero in and try to force the ball to No. 13
“For me it's just going through my reads,” Mayfield said. “We're going to call the shots and Kevin's going to get those dialed up when he feels comfortable in doing so and for me it's just going through the reads, not forcing anything and, much like the mentality I had second half of last year, find the open guy and go through my reads, trust the system and go through my progressions every play.”