CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s true that Baker Mayfield suffered a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder during the 31-21 victory over the Texans in Week 2, sources confirmed for cleveland.com, but the slight tear is no big deal and has not affected his performance, sources say.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the tear.
Such a minor tear is typical when a shoulder pops out — it would be virtually impossible for an arm to hang like his did without some kind of tear — but it’s not significant enough to impact the throwing motion or strength in his right shoulder, sources say.
Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt also didn’t connect the injury to Mayfield’s poor outing in Minnesota.
“I haven’t seen it affect him out here in practice,’' he said. “I don’t attribute any of it to the injury as much as having an off day.”
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Kevin Stefanski protected Mayfield in the second half of that victory over the Texans by having him throw only eight times. Once they knew the injury was nothing serious the day after the game and wouldn’t require surgery, Mayfield wasn’t restricted in any way. He was injured trying to tackle safety Justin Reid after an interception.
Mayfield appeared on the injury report in the days leading up the Bears game in Week 3, but as a full participant and didn’t miss a snap. In the early part of practice open to the media, Mayfield never appeared to be in any pain.
He played the entire 26-6 victory over the Bears, completing 19-of-31 attempts (61.2%) for 246 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions for a 97.0 rating. He was accurate on most of his passes except for two obvious misses, including one deep incompletion to Odell Beckham Jr.
The following week, in preparation for the Vikings game, Mayfield did not appear on the injury report and also didn’t miss a snap in practice. There was never any thought given to letting Case Keenum start vs. his former team.
Mayfield revealed on Wednesday that he’s been wearing a harness on the left shoulder, but that “it shouldn’t” affect his throwing.
During Sunday’s 14-7 victory over the Vikings, Mayfield was off from start to finish, completing only 15 of 33 attempts (45%) for 155 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions for a 59.5 rating.
His passes sailed in the first half, and were off the mark in the second half. At times, he had too much heat on the ball, including on a pass to Kareem Hunt in the end zone, which indicates that the left shoulder wasn’t affecting his right arm strength.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback, told cleveland.com that he didn’t think the left shoulder contributed to Mayfield’s inaccuracy vs. the Vikings, especially with possible pain management and a harness.
Mayfield, who’s never missed a game because of injury, refused to blame the bad game on his left shoulder.
“Everybody is going to try and make an excuse,’’ he said. “I pretty much hit on it after the game. I just have to make the damn play. It is that simple.”
Another source told cleveland.com that Mayfield’s mechanics could be off because of the left side, but the prevailing sentiment is that it has not and will not affect his performance. There’s no thought being given to sitting him down, and the slight tear will heal on its own.
Mayfield and the Browns expect him to bounce back in a big way Sunday against the Chargers.
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