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Cleveland Browns teammates: Baker Mayfield is a winner, sparked us to win over new York Jets

Cleveland Browns teammates say rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield is a winner and sparked the team to a 21-17 win over the new York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium Thursday.

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Browns were struggling to move the ball and stay on the field as an offense throughout much of the first half of Thursday night’s game against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium, but all that changed late in the second quarter.

With starter Tyrod Taylor suffering a concussion in the first half, Mayfield entered the game, completed 17 of his 23 attempts for 201 yards and led the Browns on four scoring drives, all of which combined to give Cleveland a 21-17 victory over the Jets on Thursday Night Football.

“That juice. That fire. He is always fired up,” wide receiver Antonio Callaway said. “He gave us a spark.

“He was just confident. He is used to throwing to us. We throw with him every day. He was just confident.”

Not one to shy away from the moment, Mayfield came out firing and completed back-to-back throws for a combined 31 yards, and after being stripped of the football on a sack, came back and threw a 16-yard completion to wide receiver Jarvis Landry on the ensuing play.

On first-and-10 from the Cleveland 34-yard line, Mayfield took the shotgun snap, quickly surveyed the defense, pump-faked a throw, and then, fired a pass to wide receiver Jarvis Landry down the seam on the right side of the field.

Mayfield threw the pass in-between two Jets defenders, and Landry secured the catch near the first-down marker before hustling up the field for another five yards. On the next play, Mayfield threw low and to the right of David Njoku, but the second-year tight end snared the pass for a 17-yard gain down to New York’s 35-yard line.

Credit: Ken Blaze
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws a pass under pressure from New York Jets defensive back Jamal Adams (33) during the second half at FirstEnergy Stadium.

After being sacked and losing eight yards, Mayfield completed a 16-yard throw to Landry and set up rookie kicker Greg Joseph for the field goal attempt.

But Mayfield was far from done, as he engineered three more scoring drives, including two that running back Carlos Hyde punctuated with touchdowns in the second half.

“It was awesome,” offensive lineman Joel Bitonio said. “He came in after we were struggling a little bit in the first half and rejuvenated the offense. He got us moving a little bit. He got us some points before half. He came back in the second half and led some drives for us. His energy was awesome. He took care of the ball and did some good things out there.

“He did a good job. There were some good rhythm throws. He got to his point. He threw the ball and got it out of his hands. The crowd fed off it for sure. You could tell they were excited to have him out there. We got some first downs and moved the ball. That had an avalanche effect and got us moving on offense”

Although Mayfield’s teammates did not know when his opportunity would come during the regular season, they were not surprised by his successes against the Jets and expect more accomplishments to come in the future.

“I see it almost every damn practice,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “He is a winner. That guy has a chip on his shoulder and none of this surprised me. I knew he was going to go out there and have a hell of a game whenever it was.”

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