BEREA, Ohio — Typically, the starters play the entire first half and one series after the halftime break in the third preseason game, and second-year Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is hoping that is the case for him.
After holding the last practice of training camp at team headquarters in Berea Wednesday, the Browns will travel to Tampa, Florida, where they will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Friday night in the game that is commonly referred to as “the dress rehearsal” for the regular season.
“I would like to say at least a half, but it’s not my call,” Mayfield said following Wednesday’s practice.
“I think that third game, a lot of the time is treated, as the last warmup before the real thing starts because none of the starters play in the fourth game, just because it so close to the real one. It’s a final tune-up, iron everything out, treat it more like a game week with the mental prep work of getting into a routine, so yeah, I’m looking forward to playing.”
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Mayfield has only played one series this preseason, and it was a successful one.
The Browns won the coin toss, took the ball and Mayfield opened with a scoring drive on the first possession of the game, as his touchdown pass to Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins gave Cleveland a 7-0 lead over Washington with 12:47 to play in the first quarter of the preseason opener on August 8.
Facing a first-and-10 from Washington’s 24-yard line, Mayfield took the snap from center JC Tretter and fired a throw down the left hashmarks to Higgins, who broke open between second and third-level defenders to create the window for the touchdown pass.
Mayfield was five of six for 77 yards with the touchdown pass on the first drive of the game.
After back-to-back practices against the Indianapolis Colts in Westfield, Indiana, last week, Mayfield was held out of the preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium last Saturday night.
“It is going to be a player-by-player basis,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said. “A certain player may need something different than another player.”
Although not willing to commit to how much the starters will play, Kitchens did admit that the Browns “are going to play our guys some” against the Buccaneers.
“We have had a good camp,” Kitchens said. “It has been a good, physical camp. These guys have embraced the fact that they feel like they have been doing some things that probably other teams have not been doing.
“It does not matter until you start playing the games. I recognize that. I recognize the fact that what we do two days before a game in the preseason even and understand how that can affect someone’s body. More so than anything else, that is why I have approached training camp the way that we did.”
Regardless of what players and how long they will play remains a mystery to everyone outside of the organization, Kitchens wants to see the lessons taught on the practice fields carry over to the game for all who take the field in Tampa.
“I just want to see consistency on how we compete, that is all,” Kitchens said. “Sometimes, you can’t dictate the scoreboard, but you can definitely dictate how you compete, how you prepare and how you approach the game. Those are the things I want to judge, not necessarily the scoreboard.”