MINNEAPOLIS — With a 14-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the Cleveland Browns moved to 3-1 on the season. But when it came to his own individual performance, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was understandably disappointed.
"I need to pick it up," Mayfield told reporters in his postgame press conference. "Because if I think that p--s poor performance is going to cut it, it's not. So I'll get better. Luckily, we can lean on [the defense] and run the ball when we need to."
Mayfield's comments came moments after he completed just 15 of his 33 pass attempts for a season-low 155 yards. Perhaps more alarmingly than his meager stat line, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft also missed several key throws, including a pass to a wide-open Odell Beckham Jr. on Cleveland's final offensive drive that seemingly would have sealed a win for the Browns.
After the game, Mayfield acknowledged missing on some throws he should have made, which he partially blamed on an uneven game flow.
"There's a lot of easy throws that I think missed," Mayfield said. "Situationally, you get into running the ball and didn't have a couple of throws for a while, you just get out of that rhythm. I need to do a good job of taking advantage of my opportunities and just stay on track. For me, I pride myself on being extremely accurate. And today, I don't know what the hell that was."
It's worth noting that it was just two weeks ago that Mayfield suffered a left shoulder injury in the Browns' Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. And while the injury didn't require the 26-year-old to miss so much as a snap, he has been wearing a brace, which could conceivably affect his throwing ability.
Asked about the impact his injury had on his performance on Sunday, however, Mayfield downplayed its effects.
"It's attached," Mayfield said of his left shoulder, noting "I throw with my right."