Baker Mayfield is officially taking the reins of the Cleveland Browns offense.
That was confirmed on Monday when head coach Hue Jackson announced the rookie out of Oklahoma would make his first career start against the Oakland Raiders in Week Four.
“(Mayfield) is the starting quarterback of this football team,” Jackson said in comments to the media. “We know it’s a long season, all kind of things can happen. Baker Mayfield is the starting quarterback of this team.”
.@bakermayfield has been named our starting QB 🎯 pic.twitter.com/xqn17Df15j
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 24, 2018
Mayfield saw his first NFL regular season action late in the first half of the Browns matchup with the New York Jets last Thursday night. At the time, his team trailed 14-0. But after replacing Tyrod Taylor, he led them on a fierce fightback as the Browns outscored the Jets 21-3 the rest of the way in the comeback victory. It was Cleveland’s first win since December 24, 2016.
Though he didn’t throw any touchdown passes, he played mistake-free football and put the Browns in position to score two touchdowns which proved crucial. It included a pinpoint strike to Jarvis Landry in the third quarter which set up a Carlos Hyde one-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing two-point conversion, Landry completed a pass to Mayfield to tie the game 14-14.
In the end, Mayfield completed 17 of 23 passes for 201 yards against the Jets and finished with a highly impressive total QBR of 94.9.
Mayfield’s maiden start will come on the road against a Raiders team who’ve lost their first three games in head coach Jon Gruden‘s return to the sidelines. He’ll be looking to send them to 0-4 for the first time since 2014 all the while leading Cleveland to its first winning streak since Week Nine of that same season.
“I didn’t come here to win one game, and I didn’t come here just to start the next,” Mayfield emphasized in the wake of the announcement. “We’re building a franchise here and we’re turning it around. It’s about culture.”
