CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns placed quarterback Baker Mayfield on injured reserve Wednesday afternoon, officially ending what was a brutal 2021 season for the 2018 No. 1 pick.
Mayfield’s injuries and struggles have been well documented and criticized but backup quarterback Case Keenum praised Mayfield Wednesday.
“I did have a front row seat to one of the gutsiest, toughest performances of a quarterback playing in a season that I have ever seen,” Keenum said, “culminating in the other night and how he battled his tail off to really bring us back into that game and keep us in it.”
With Mayfield preparing to schedule surgery to repair his left shoulder, which includes a torn labrum, Keenum is set to start Sunday’s season finale against the Bengals.
It's the second start of the season for Keenum, who led the Browns to a 17-14 win over the Broncos in Week 7.
Mayfield has been battered and bruised dealing with knee and foot injuries on top of the left shoulder problems. Throw in a two-week stint on the COVID list and underwhelming performances on the field, it’s been a disaster for Mayfield, who aimed to prove he was the franchise quarterback to lock down a massive contract extension.
“I think his entire season he was battling a lot of things,” Keenum said. “He is one of the toughest guys I know, and he is a fighter. He came to fight every single day and pushed through a lot of adversity just to get on the field on Sundays. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, and it grew. I already had a lot of respect for him, and it grew as the season went on.
“Yeah, unfortunate the way the season ended. Nobody wanted this, the way this has gone, Baker for sure. Nobody really wanted this, but it is tough. It is a tough football league. That is kind of the way it is sometimes.”
Keenum saw firsthand what Mayfield, who finished with a career-low 253 completions for 3,010 yards and 17 touchdowns in 14 games this season, went through weekly to prepare to play.
“He is tough,” Keenum said. “I have watched him get hit a little bit closer than probably most people – maybe his wife and his mom, and then me; I might be third just to see how carefully he gets up, but yeah is tough. There were some weeks just to get him to the field was a small miracle.”
In addition to injuries, a disconnect between Mayfield and head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed itself on multiple occasions that saw Mayfield criticize Stefanski for being too conservative after one game and Monday night called Stefanski out for leaving rookie right tackle James Hudson III to block Defensive Player of the Year favorite T.J. Watt after Mayfield was sacked nine times, often because he held on to the ball too long and failed to see open teammates.
While Keenum was in no mood to reflect much on the season because they still have a game to play, he did talk about the craziest two week stretch of his career that saw him and Mayfield land on the COVID list.
Then there was the flight to Green Bay Christmas morning to play later in the afternoon.
“That was nuts,” Keenum said. “That is definitely something I am going to remember forever – that whole week of Christmas, I guess you could say."
Keenum was supposed to start in place of Mayfield against the Raiders, which got pushed from Saturday to Monday, but he landed on the COVID list a day after Mayfield did.
Players always stay ready to play, and Keenum went to great lengths to do so leading up to the Packers game.
“Being with my family, just doing virtual meetings and trying to get some work in my basement. Basically, doing Peloton, some band work, pushups and prison workouts” Keenum said. “Went to the park one day. It was above freezing so went to the park one day. My kids were over there freezing on the swings, and I am trying to run and do a walkthrough and get some footwork on this frozen old soccer field.
“Baker was doing the same thing, trying to figure out how to get ready to play. Taking meetings by my Christmas tree on Christmas Eve virtually. Going through the first 15 [plays] and then waking up. I went and got tested at six, and the way my tests were going, I was not expecting even to be able to go up to Green Bay. They said I popped a negative test, and here we go. We are on the way to Green Bay, get on the flight and go to the hotel, do a few walkthrough plays and go out there and play. It was unbelievable. It was definitely something I have never experienced before and hope to never do again.”