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Kevin Stefanski: Browns QB Baker Mayfield could have returned to game after knee injury

According to Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, it was his choice to hold Baker Mayfield out of the remainder of Sunday's game vs. the Patriots.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.

After leaving the third quarter of the Cleveland Browns' loss to the New England Patriots with a right knee injury, Baker Mayfield didn't return to the game.

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But according to Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, it was his decision to hold his starting quarterback out of the remainder of the game with the score being as lopsided as it was. Mayfield also said that a postgame x-ray showed no structural damage to his knee.

"Baker's a competitor," Stefanski said, confirming that Mayfield was healthy enough to return to the contest. "Just didn't feel it was the right thing to put him back out there."

Mayfield suffered the injury with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter after taking a hit from outside linebacker Matthew Judon on a pass attempt on 2nd and 10 from the Patriots' 40-yard line. Mayfield left the game to be evaluated in the team's medical tent and was replaced by backup Case Keenum, who took a pair of sacks on third and fourth down with the Browns trailing 31-7.

Cleveland went on to lose the game by a final score of 45-7.

Mayfield's knee injury isn't the first injury he's suffered this season. 

Earlier this year, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder while attempting to make a tackle following an interception in Cleveland's Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. He later reaggravated the injury and suffered a fracture in the same shoulder taking a sack from J.J. Watt in the Browns' Week 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The injury forced Mayfield to miss Cleveland's Week 7 win over the Denver Broncos -- the first missed game of his NFL career. He has since returned to make three consecutive starts while wearing a harness on his left shoulder to aid the injury.

 

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