A Week 1 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers wouldn’t usually have too much buzz around it. But this isn’t your normal Browns vs. Panthers matchup.
Cleveland traded disgruntled quarterback Baker Mayfield to Carolina on July 6th. He entered training camp in competition for the starting job and he will in fact be under center for the Panthers against the Browns on Sunday for Week 1.
There have been some heated – and disputed – quotes on both sides leading up to the matchup. Sometimes you can say a lot without saying a lot, and that’s what Browns safety John Johnson III did over the weekend.
Andy Baskin and Daryl Ruiter talked about his comments on Audacy’s “It’s Always Gameday In Cleveland” podcast.
Johnson played in 15 games last season with the Browns. He only missed Weeks 16 and 17 with a hamstring injury, but he wasn’t going to miss Week 18.
“I know I had, like, a little injury. I missed the previous two games. But I wanted to make sure that I came back just to play with my guys and stuff like that,” John Johnson III said. “It goes both ways. Maybe (Mayfield) was hurt? We don't know. Maybe he couldn't play. It's something we just don't know.”
Mayfield played through a partially torn labrum that he suffered in Week 2, but reaggravated it in Week 6 and was out Week 7 against Denver. He battled through injuries last season but ultimately was inactive for Week 18 against the Bengals after the Browns were eliminated in Week 17.
Ruiter was impressed with Johnson’s diplomatic answer when asked about the Mayfield situation.
“That right there is a masterclass in how to throw shade at somebody without actually throwing the shade,” Ruiter said (9:20 in player above). “I want to be very clear. I’m not saying that JJ3 threw shade. My interpretation of his comments are he was throwing shade. I want to be very clear about that. But that is a masterclass in how you do it diplomatically. He didn’t call him out. He didn’t throw him under the bus. He didn’t rip him. None of that. He just said ‘This is how I read the situation. We don’t know what was really going on behind the scenes. There may have been some other factors, etc, etc.’
“But yeah, when he says ‘I missed the two previous games but it was important to me to get back out there for the season finale and play with my guys and so maybe Baker was hurt, maybe he wasn’t hurt, we’ll never know,” Ruiter laughed.
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