CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
Baker Mayfield is ready for a break.
Taking to his Instagram story on Tuesday night, the Cleveland Browns quarterback announced that he is leaving social media for the time being. In his post, Mayfield said that the leave of absence comes as the result of a desire to "do what's best to focus on me, my family and loved ones."
"Getting off all social media for the foreseeable future," the 26-year-old signal-caller wrote. "Gotta do what's best to focus on me, my family and loved ones. Appreciate all the support. Time to get right."
Mayfield's post comes two days after he tweeted about his disdain for social media following the AFC divisional round matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
"Congrats to all teams moving on… some extremely competitive football was played this weekend. Was entertaining to watch. Would absolutely much rather be playing, but was fun to watch," he wrote. "Nevertheless… social media is toxic. Always kept my circle tight. Time to get back to that. Family and loved ones only."
Mayfield's tweets came after many on social media pointed out that he had liked a tweet from 92.3 The Fan host Dustin Fox that stated that what the Browns currently have at quarterback isn't good enough to keep pace in the AFC.
Earlier this month, Mayfield publicly took issue with a report from Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot that detailed an apparent rift between the quarterback and Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski. In a tweet, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft lambasted Cabot and others in the local media for what he felt was unfair treatment.
"Clickbait," Mayfield wrote while quote-tweeting the article. "You and many other Cleveland local media continue to be drama stirring reporters with no sources or facts. Don’t put words in my mouth so you can put food on your table. I’m not your puppet."
Last week, Mayfield underwent surgery in Los Angeles to repair the torn labrum in his left shoulder that he suffered in the Browns' Week 2 win over the Houston Texans. Despite reaggravating the injury in Cleveland's Week 6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the fourth-year quarterback only missed one game to his shoulder, before opting to sit out the Browns' Week 18 finale vs. the Cincinnati Bengals with his team having already been eliminated from postseason contention.
While Cleveland's front office and coaching staff have remained committed to Mayfield publicly, there has been plenty of speculation about his future with the Browns as he prepares to enter the final season of his rookie contract without an extension in place. Taking to Twitter following his surgery, Mayfield posted a video in which he expressed a desire to bounce back from his injury-plagued 2021 campaign, in which his on-field production took a step back from the previous season.
"This is one of those steps to get back to my true self. This past year hasn't been very easy," Mayfield said. "A lot of stuff has gone down and it wasn't easy on me or my family, so I appreciate everybody's that's reached out and wished me good luck on the surgery. All the prayers and everything -- it definitely didn't go unnoticed, so thank you.
"Now it's on the way to the road to recovery. It's not going to be an easy one but it's going to be one that I'm going to remember and it's going to be a special one. So I'll keep you guys updated. Thank you so much. But this is not the end of my story. It's just going to be one of those little things that I'll look back and remember that's one of those challenges and adversity that I'm going to try to take advantage of and it'll make me a better person."