BEREA, Ohio — As the Cleveland Browns entered their bye week, there likely wasn't another player on the team's roster who needed it more than Baker Mayfield.
And as the Browns return to face the Baltimore Ravens in a crucial Week 14 matchup on Sunday, Cleveland's quarterback says that he benefitted from the week off after having dealt with various injuries throughout the bulk of the 2021 campaign.
"Quite a bit, to be honest with you," Mayfield answered when asked how much the bye week helped him health-wise. "I haven't had any setbacks in the past few weeks and then to get another week off, I'm looking forward to keep getting better as the weeks go on."
In other words, what a difference a bye week makes.
Mayfield's comments come amid a season in which he's been physically hampered since suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder while attempting to make a tackle following an interception in the Browns' Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. In the time since, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft has reaggravated that injury and fractured a bone in his left shoulder, in addition to suffering injuries his left foot and right knee.
While Mayfield missed Cleveland's Week 7 win vs. the Denver Broncos due to his shoulder injuries, he has largely continued to play through his ailments to varying degrees of success. As a result, the Browns return from their bye with a 6-6 record and in desperate need of a win to remain in the AFC playoff picture, but also with a quarterback who feels better now than he has at any other point since the start of the season.
"I feel confident where I'm at, where we're at and where we're headed," Mayfield said. "We still have everything in front of us.
"Now, it's crunch time."