NFL

Baker Mayfield takes dig at booing Browns fans: ‘Won’t be quiet’

Baker Mayfield helped the Browns hold off the winless Lions on Sunday, but his game included a completion percentage that barely topped 50%, only 176 yards passing, two interceptions and boos from Cleveland fans.

He didn’t talk to reporters after the game on Sunday, saying that he was “frustrated, among other things” and that he thought it’d be best to wait before talking to the media. When he did on Monday, he took a jab at those boos.

“Those are probably the same fans that won’t be quiet while we’re on offense and trying to operate,” Mayfield told reporters. “So don’t really care.”

His performance against Detroit was slightly better than the previous week, when New England blew out the Browns 45-7 and Mayfield managed just 11 completions and 73 yards before leaving in the third quarter with a right knee contusion. But it extended an up-and-down year for Mayfield and the Browns, where they won three of their first four games before taking just three of the seven since.

Their schedule doesn’t get any easier, either. They travel to Baltimore on Sunday before the bye week, and then host the Ravens on Dec. 12. Cleveland nearly faced a loss that would’ve upended its season, not scoring in the second half, against the Lions, and they needed a nine-play drive to wind out the final 2:29 against the league’s last-place team.

In his fourth season, Mayfield, 26, has completed 64% of his passes — the highest completion percentage of his career — for 2,166 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, but he’s also dealt with a nagging left-shoulder injury and ankle injury. His relationship with Odell Beckham Jr., acquired from the Giants in 2019 to be a top receiver in Cleveland, then fell apart and resulted in Beckham Jr.’s release and deal with the Rams as a free agent.

Baker Mayfield fans booing Browns
Baker Mayfield (#6) took a shot at Browns fans who booed the team during its win over the Lions on Nov. 21, 2021. Getty Images

The Browns have won two of three games since that point, when Beckham was waived on Nov. 6 and then went unclaimed.