CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – With his left arm in a sling and another game on the horizon Thursday night, Baker Mayfield plans to keep playing.
Running back Kareem Hunt may not be able to.
Already down their starting two offensive tackles, the Browns could be without their top two running backs and Mayfield significantly less than 100% when they host the Denver Broncos in four days.
“It is a huge challenge with the short week,” Mayfield said. “Obviously, we have a lot of guys banged up right now, but it is an AFC opponent coming in, and we have to be able to bounce back and respond. It is the first time we have lost two in a row since Kevin [Stefanski] has been here. That hurts more than anything because you want to be able to fix those corrections and not make the same mistakes over again. We did not do that. We have to flush it, learn from it and move forward. It is no resemblance of who we are as a team on display today.”
Both Hunt and Mayfield will undergo MRIs Monday. Receiver Odell Beckham Jr. likely will too after the three suffered injuries during a 37-14 loss to the Cardinals.
Taking time off is not an option according to Mayfield, who insists he will keep playing with the injury.
“Just have to figure out a way to get better,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield, who has been playing with a torn labrum since Week 2, went down with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter when he was strip sacked by Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt. The fumble ended up being Mayfield’s third turnover of the day, his second fumble.
“We offensively have to take care of the ball,” Stefanski said. “We were doing a pretty good job of it going into this game, but to have three versus a team that had taken the ball away, that is frustrating.”
Mayfield, who said the shoulder also popped out and back in again on a non-contact play on the next offensive series, which ended up being his last.
“We need him,” receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, who caught both touchdowns including a 57-yard Hail Mary at the end of the first half, said. “He is a big part of this team and he keeps us going.
“He is a tough guy. Earlier in the year, he had something similar. He came back and fought out there. He wants to be out there for the team. He is definitely a tough guy and a great competitor.”
Backup Case Keenum came on with just under 5 minutes remaining for mop up duty with the game out of reach.
Hunt suffered what the team is calling a calf injury with 12:10 remaining on a fourth and 4. Hunt was helped to the sidelines, unable to put any pressure on his right leg, an indication he suffered a serious injury, and he was carted to the locker room.
“It sucks,” Mayfield said. “He was playing through some nicks and injuries, as well. For it to happen on kind of a simple pass play that he is just going over the ball, it just sucks. I hurt for him. I just talked to him, and it is the first time that he had not finished a football game. Things like that are tough because you do not wish that upon anybody.”
Stefanski said it was not an Achilles injury for Hunt.
Running back Nick Chubb missed practice last week due to a calf injury.
Beckham banged his right shoulder in the first half while making a 17-yard catch. He went to the bench in obvious pain but did not go into the medical tent.
“The guy gets hurt, and that affects your body and your mental game, but he goes back out there and keeps fighting, which says a lot about him and the way he feels about the team,” Peoples-Jones said.