BEREA, Ohio — Warning: The below story contains explicit language
On Thursday, we found out that Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has been playing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder for the last three weeks.
It's an injury that his teammate Odell Beckham Jr. can relate to.
The three-time Pro Bowler admitted to reporters that he, too, has been dealing with a torn labrum going back a decade to his days at LSU.
"I don't really care to talk about injuries, but I've had it (torn labrum) since college," Beckham said on Thursday. "It's the same thing he's got. I've had it for ten years. I'm just going to go out and play football."
Beckham added that he has elected not to have a procedure done for the injury, saying, "I don't want to be on the surgery table anymore."
OBJ did praise Mayfield for playing through the pain. "That shit hurts," he admitted. "He's tough. It doesn't feel good. He's not going to sit there and complain about it, he's just going to go out and play. I know it's unfortunate, but it is what it is."
The revelation about Mayfield's torn labrum may answer some questions as to why the Browns signal-caller's accuracy was off on Sunday in Minnesota. However, questions still remain about the perceived lack of chemistry between Beckham and Mayfield. One play in particular against the Vikings stood out.
Here's how 3News' Ben Axelrod described the sequence: The Browns were facing a third-and-five with just 1:13 remaining in the game and Minnesota down to its final timeout, Mayfield took a shotgun snap from the Browns' 38 yard-line. After briefly rushing to his right, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft locked in on Beckham, who had run past Vikings safety Harrison Smith and appeared to be wide open up the sideline.
Had Mayfield hit Beckham with the pass, it appeared to be a surefire touchdown -- or at the very least, a completion to seal the game. Instead, Mayfield threw to Beckham's back shoulder, with the uncatchable ball bouncing to the ground for an incompletion, forcing the Browns to punt.
On Wednesday, Mayfield explained that he and Beckham had made different reads on how one of the Vikings' defensive backs was defending the play, which ultimately resulted in the miscommunication.
So how can Beckham and Mayfield get on the same page?
"We watch the film. We talk about it. We talk all the time," Beckham told reporters. "Anybody who is great and expects greatness out of themselves is going to be upset when they miss out on an opportunity. We want perfection. We want the best. It's just something we've got to figure out. It's going to come. We just have to stay patient."
More Browns coverage:
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- Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski previews matchup with Los Angeles Chargers: Transcript
- Browns coach Kevin Stefanski says shoulder injury isn't affecting Baker Mayfield's play