CLEVELAND — After suffering a ribs injury during the team's victory over the Indianapolis Colts, a matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers hardly seemed like an unlikely recipe for recovery for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
But even after his starting quarterback took four sacks and eight quarterback hits in the Browns' 38-7 loss, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski said that Mayfield is better off on this Monday than he was a week ago.
"Baker is sore," Stefanski said, "but he's nowhere near as sore as he was last Monday."
Stefanski's comments come one day after what was Mayfield's worst outing of the season, as he completed 10 of his 18 pass attempts for 119 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions, including a pick-6. With the score out of hand by the end of the third quarter, Stefanski made the decision to pull Mayfield in favor of backup Case Keenum, citing that he didn't want to see the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft "get hit one more time."
Considering Mayfield's general ineffectiveness, many wondered if the third-year signal-caller was healthy enough to play. On Monday, Stefanski acknowledged those questions were fair, but that Mayfield had been medically cleared and "fought his butt off to get out there with his teammates."
Despite both questions regarding his health and play, Stefanski's comments about Mayfield's progression appear to indicate that the Oklahoma product remains on track to start this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. On Sunday, Stefanski indicated that would be the case, so long as his team's starting quarterback was available to play.
"Baker will start as long as he's healthy," Stefanski said. "And I think he will be."