Browns coach Kevin Stefanski explains benching of Baker Mayfield

The Cleveland Browns have been a solid football team during the 2020 NFL season. The team has seemingly bounced back with a vengeance after a horrific and forgettable 2019 campaign.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s game against the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers was a bit of a wake-up call. As well as that, star quarterback Baker Mayfield may not be healthy enough to play at a high level. Head coach Kevin Stefanski made the call against the Steelers to bench Mayfield in the third quarter and explained his reasoning after the game, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

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“Injury wise, really got out of it OK. (QB) Baker (Mayfield) there, I just did not want to see him get hit one more time, and I put that on myself,” Stefanski said. “Went into this game knowing we had to keep him clean, and we did not do a good enough job so that that starts with me obviously. He is a very, very tough player and I know he wants to fight, but it is a long season, we have a game next week and I did not feel like it was the right thing to put him back out there.”

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Fortunately for the Browns, Cleveland is still way ahead of the game in terms of their progress this season. Their running game is one of the best in the NFL. Additionally, Odell Beckham Jr. seems to be coming into his own this year in Cleveland.

However, the season could be greatly impacted if Mayfield can’t stay healthy moving forward.