Odell Beckham Defends Browns Teammate Baker Mayfield After Criticism

Baker Mayfield, who was impressive while leading the Browns on a late-season surge last year, has been anything but this season.

The 24-year-old is tied for the NFL lead with Tampa Bay’s Jameis Winston with 12 interceptions and the Browns are 2-5 on the season.

Many expected Mayfield to build on his success from last season and take Cleveland’s offense to a new level with star wide receiver Odell Beckham on the roster. But, that has not happened as Beckham only has one touchdown catch this season and is averaging career lows with only 4.9 receptions and 69.7 yards per game.

Despite that, Beckham came to his quarterback’s defense on Thursday and responded to the mounting criticism being leveled at Mayfield.

“You can’t sit here and say it’s all on him. You have to take a look at everything going on around him,” Beckham told reporters. “Obviously, he has to play better. I have to player better. We all need to do better. Can’t sit back and be like, ‘It’s Baker’s fault.’ I feel like that’s the easiest thing for us to do. I’ve been in situations where one person is getting the blame, and the rest of the people are quiet to kind of stay out of the fire. I’m going to jump in the fire with him. I’ll be the first one. Some of these losses are on me. I need to be in the right place at the right time. I’m going to do better. And that’s what I plan to do the rest for the rest of the season.”

Things should get better for the Browns and Mayfield as they have winnable games against the Broncos, Bills, Steelers and Broncos coming up.

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.

Meet your guide

Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”