Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield may not be a division rival of New York Giants signal-caller Daniel Jones, but he is wasting no time bashing the quarterback with some backhanded comments.
Mayfield was appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter when he mocked the team for drafting the former Duke star.
From GQ.com:
Near our booth, a SportsCenter segment about the New York Giants catches Mayfield’s eye. “I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones,” Mayfield says, about New York’s much-maligned draft-day decision to spend the sixth pick on the quarterback from Duke (whose college record was a measly 17–19). “Blows my mind.”
I tell Mayfield that I’m mystified that so many supposedly expert quarterback scouts seem unable to predict what makes a good NFL quarterback.
“Some people overthink it,” Mayfield says. “That’s where people go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”
Later in the interview, Mayfield discussed what it was like to have NFL teams asking about his highly-publicized drunken arrest.
“Oh, God, it was sickening,” Mayfield said. “What were you thinking when you got arrested? What were you thinking when you played Kansas and grabbed your crotch? Are you gonna mature? Blah blah blah. If I could see the future, I’d tell you what’s gonna fucking happen. But I think that was the best part about that process. I got to answer those questions for the first time, instead of the media putting it all out there. I got to answer it and say it in my own words.”
Head coach Freddie Kitchens also joked about Mayfield’s height.
“The first thing I ever said to him was ‘Well, hell, you’re not that short.’ He kind of looked at me like I was crazy and started laughing. He’s like, ‘Well, you’re not as bald as I thought you were.’ You knew that he had some fire about him.”
Mayfield and the Browns are set to officially kickoff their 2019-20 campaign on September 8 against the Tennessee Titans. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET.