Gästebuch » Baker Mayfield dragged more than a Heisman Trophy

with him into the NFL. There was other baggage https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Rashard-Higgins-Jersey , including a well-earned reputation as being cocky, fiery, brash and over-the-top.He hasn’t changed much.And that’s what the Browns love about their rookie starting quarterback, who didn’t need long to firmly plant his own flag in Cleveland.“He walk it,” receiver Jarvis Landry said, “like he talk it.”As Mayfield prepares to make his first pro start in a few days at Oakland, his confidence isn’t the only thing impressing teammates eager to see if the No. 1 overall pick can build upon his sensational debut last week against the New York Jets 鈥?a stunning performance that prompted coach Hue Jackson to switch QBs.While he is on the verge of his first visit to play in front of the Raiders’ notoriously rowdy “Black Hole”, Mayfield is showing no fear or signs of complacency.The 23-year-old did not speak to reporters on Wednesday and the only time he was seen in Cleveland’s locker room was to grab the playbook out of his locker.“He’s been real focused,” said left guard Joel Bitonio, one of the team’s captains. “He’s taken the lead in a few meetings just because that’s what the starting quarterback does.”Sooner than the Browns or anyone expected, Mayfield has risen on the depth chart and vaulted from high-profile backup and future QB to the present one.And while it may have happened quickly, Mayfield has shown since the moment the Browns (1-1-1) selected him he’d be prepared for this moment.He’s worked hard, shown humility and remained supportive of Tyrod Taylor, who remains in protocol with a concussion that hastened his benching.Before he was drafted, Mayfield drew comparisons to Johnny Manziel, another Heisman winner who busted for the Browns. The Mayfield-Manziel similarities though, seem to start and stop at their height.“You hear people say, ‘Oh, he’s Johnny or he’s this or he’s that,’ but since I’ve known him he’s been a great guy,” Bitonio said. “He’s been in the building. He’s a confident guy. I think people see that as a little bit of cockiness, but he’s just confident in what he does and he understands you put in the work and he’s ready to compete and he’s ready to play.“And that’s all you want in a quarterback.”But with Mayfield, there’s a little more.It wasn’t long after replacing Taylor during Thursday’s nationally televised game when Mayfield started talking trash to the Jets defensive linemen. That may have surprised a few of his new teammates, but it’s nothing new for Mayfield, whose on-the-field antics in college didn’t stop at choice words.Mayfield loved to antagonize opponents, whether it was telling Kansas’ fans to “stick to basketball” or celebrating a victory at Ohio State by spiking an Oklahoma flag into the turf.“I followed all that stuff, and again, it’s that ‘Walk it, Talk it,'” Landry said. “He definitely has that attitude and charisma, and that is contagious.”It remains to be seen how much of Mayfield’s personality rubs off on his teammates. But Raiders coach Jon Gruden believes a quarterback’s nature can mean as much as arm strength or mobility.“Those are the intangibles that you look for that are hard to find,” Gruden said on a conference call. “Do they like the pressure? Do they like the big moment? Some guys come alive, some guys don’t. Some guys can bring out the best in their teammates. Some guys struggle to do that.“But Mayfield has the magic about him. He has the charisma about him that really allows everybody on that team Joe Thomas Jersey , defensively included to play at a higher level. They know if we can get the ball back to this kid, something good’s going to happen.”Gruden grew up in Ohio rooting for the Browns, and he’s well aware of the team’s two-decades-old search to find a quarterback.With Mayfield, the hunt may be over.“What they have not had is a front-line starter that really can make all of the plays,” Gruden said.“I think Mayfield, if you draw a line under that name, he is the man. He is the story that I think right now is going to become bigger and bigger in Cleveland this year.”NOTES: DE Emmanuel Ogbah (ankle) returned to practice and is expected to play after missing the past two games. … Sunday’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for Jackson, who spent one season as Oakland’s coach. He’ll also be reunited with Gruden as they spent a season coaching together at Pacific. “He taught me football,” Jackson said. “We used to argue every day. I was a wishbone quarterback at the time. I’ve always given Jon credit for where I am today. He helped mold me and shape me into the coach I am a little bit.” CLEVELAND (AP) — Freddie Kitchens briefly left football. Football never left him.Shortly after he stopped playing quarterback at Alabama, where he started for three seasons, Kitchens spent his weekends washing FedEx trucks to supplement his income as a car salesman. When those Saturday afternoons in October and November that shaped his life ended, Kitchens worked to the sounds of his beloved Crimson Tide on the radio.When the crowd roared, he ached.“It almost brought me to tears listening to it,” Kitchens recalled. “I knew I couldn’t live without the game of football.”Two decades and six coaching stops later, he and the Browns are going on together.The 44-year-old Kitchens, who grew up admiring his father’s dogged work ethic, was introduced Monday as Cleveland’s 17th full-time coach, completing a sudden, stunning climb up the NFL coaching ranks.Despite his lack of any head coaching experience, the Browns selected Kitchens, who began last season as the club’s running backs coach, over several other quality candidates primarily because of his unique ability to connect with people and a deep drive to win.Trading his bright orange game-day “Dawg Pound” sweat shirt for a plaid sport coat, tie and Browns cap, Kitchens said he realizes he might not be viewed as the ideal candidate. Sitting at a podium across from large windows framing Cleveland’s skyline, Kitchens politely praised owners Dee and Jimmy Halsam — “Mr. Jimmy and Miss Dee” — for their “guts” in picking him.“I won’t let them down. I know that I am not a popular choice,” Kitchens said. “I understand that and I don’t care.”Kitchens, though, endeared himself to Browns fans during his eight-game audition as the club’s interim offensive coordinator. After he took over the offense in late October, the Browns — and especially rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield — clicked under Kitchens, who helped them win five of their last eight games and finish 7-8-1 after going winless in 2017.Now that he’s in charge of more than the offense, Kitchens has bigger plans.“It drives me crazy that people are happy with 7-8-1,” he said. “If I was in a different setting, my vocabulary would demonstrate that. That is not acceptable. Nobody here wants that. We all understand that it was an improvement Chris Hubbard Color Rush Jersey , but under no circumstances is that ever going to be acceptable. We only have one goal here and that is to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.“There’s not but one team that’s happy in this league. If you’re happy we finished, ‘We made the playoffs,’ well, hell, that’s not my goal. I’ve been to the playoffs, I’ve been to the Super Bowl and I lost the Super Bowl. That was the most-gut wrenching thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life. And that’s what drives me every day, is to get back there and win it.”Since agreeing to become Cleveland’s coach last week, Kitchens has been busily assembling his staff. He added former Arizona coach Steve Wilks as his defensive coordinator and Todd Monken, who spent the past three seasons in Tampa Bay, will handle the Browns offense.However, Kitchens will continue to call plays.General manager John Dorsey said the team’s coaching search committee met regularly for the past nine weeks to discuss candidates. As time passed, their list shrunk but every time it did, Kitchens’ name was at the top of it.Dorsey acknowledged the team had “really nice discussions” with former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy, and that New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ decision to back out on Indianapolis last year had no bearing on the Browns’ interest in him.“He didn’t make the final list,” Dorsey said.There were several other coaches who got serious consideration, and the committee formally interviewed six other candidates. None of them though, was more impressive than Kitchens.“We got it right,” Dorsey said.When Kitchens was hired a year ago, Dorsey couldn’t have imagined that he would become Cleveland’s next coach. But as the season unfolded, and after Kitchens called Cleveland’s plays in the team’s final exhibition game, Dorsey began to see him in a new light.“Freddie is really good with people,” he said. “You could see how much, even in his previous role, how much the players actually liked being around him. We walked away from the fourth preseason game in Detroit going, ‘He just did that, didn’t he?’ And he made it look easy. Play-calling is an art and just when you sit and talk with him you just know. We knew it was the right decision.”While he has a new title, and more responsibility, Kitchens won’t change.In some other city, on some other team, he might do things differently.There’s a reason why he wanted to be in Cleveland.“I can be myself,” he said. “I don’t have to put on a show. It kills me with some guys that they think they have to be more head coach-ish. I won’t be that. I will be who I am. I can be myself and we are going to have fun. The fun is in the winning and we are going to have fun.“We are going to win and we are going to have a damn good time doing it.”