LOS ANGELES — Baker Mayfield will try to bounce back from a tough outing a week earlier when he and the Browns head to Los Angeles to face Justin Herbert and the Chargers. Kickoff on Sunday is at 4:05 p.m. Eastern.
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Mayfield had accuracy problems against the Vikings but was helped out by the Browns’ defense in a 14-7 win. Herbert had three touchdown passes to lead the Chargers past the Raiders, 28-14.
Who: Cleveland Browns (3-1) at Los Angeles Chargers (3-1).
When: Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021.
Time: 4:05 p.m. Eastern.
Where: SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles (70,000).
TV: CBS.
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Live streams: fuboTV (7-day free trial), Paramount+ (7-day free trial) and Hulu Live TV (free trial).
Latest line: Chargers -1.5.
Announcers: Kevin Harlan, Trent Green and Melanie Collins.
Read some of what Dan Labbe of cleveland.com wrote about Mayfield knowing he has to be better after his problems in Minnesota.
Baker Mayfield confirmed on Wednesday what was obvious to those watching Sunday’s game against the Vikings or anyone who saw photos after: he is wearing a harness on his left shoulder.
But, just like he has tried to avoid doing since initially injuring the shoulder attempting to tackle Texans safety Justin Reid after an interception, Mayfield wouldn’t use the harness as an excuse for his performance in Minnesota, saying the harness doesn’t affect his throws.
“It shouldn’t, no,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield completed just 15 of 33 passes in Sunday’s 14-7 win in Minnesota for 155 yards and a quarterback rating of 59.5. His completion percentage, which was 81.6 percent after the Texans game, has dropped to 65.5 percent. While there’s likely some regression to the mean baked in, a 53.3 percent completion percentage the last two weeks is still concerning.
The dip comes after the injury, when Mayfield, after taking a hit from Reid, ran back to the team’s locker room at FirstEnergy Stadium and had his shoulder popped back in. He didn’t miss an offensive snap. The durable Mayfield hasn’t missed a game since taking over as the team’s starter in Week 4 of his rookie season.
Mayfield’s rough outing on Sunday left him ruing his performance. He called it a “piss-poor” game afterwards on Sunday and struck a similar tone on Wednesday.
“Missing the throws, and then the same problems,” Mayfield said. “Hitting the guys that are open, taking what’s there.”
He pointed to a number of specific throws, including an overthrow of Odell Beckham Jr. in the red zone, a second-and-goal miss from the 3 when Beckham ran in and then out towards the back pylon only to see the ball sail over his head.
He pointed to the deep miss to Beckham in the fourth quarter which would have iced the game, citing a miscommunication.
“That’s a specific route and concept for a late-game hitter,” Mayfield said. “He’s seeing one thing, if you go back and look at the film you see the safety playing over the top, that’s what I’m looking at and then he’s seeing, as soon as he breaks out, that the safety attaches back to (wide receiver Anthony) Schwartz, so it’s just little things, and it’s probably about a quarter of a second off from me being able to see the safety attach back on to Schwartz instead of playing over the top.”
There was a deep out to Harrison Bryant Mayfield sailed above his tight end.
“Just gotta hit those,” Mayfield said.
It was a theme of Mayfield’s weekly press conference as the Browns turn their attention towards a trip to Los Angeles to face the 3-1 Chargers, who have won back-to-back games against the Chiefs and Raiders.
Mayfield seemed OK with the process on Sunday, but unhappy with the results.
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