Baker Mayfield’s Browns training camps tell us a lot about what Panthers can expect
Baker Mayfield-to-Rashard Higgins is a completion I’m accustomed to writing about this time of year.
Soon Panthers fans will familiarize themselves with the Mayfield-Higgins connection that Browns fans cheered for years.
Ten of Higgins’ 12 career touchdown receptions are from Mayfield. Only tight end David Njoku (11) and Jarvis Landry (14) have caught more Mayfield touchdowns. Any Browns fan could detail the duos’ innate on-field connection. In 2019 during a regular season game against Buffalo, Higgins caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Mayfield as time expired. It was one of the few snaps — and only target — Higgins earned all game.
Yet there he was, saving the day and rolling out his signature red carpet as the Dog Pound bellowed. I was sitting in the press box, unsurprised by a red-zone connection I’d see routinely spark at Browns practices.
Months prior, Mayfield-to-Higgins was a highlight of training camp, as it was the year before and consecutive years following.
The familiar quarterback and wide receiver duo should lean on their old chemistry as they both navigate a new NFL organization for the first time.
Aside from a rookie season with offensive line coach James Campen, throwing to Higgins is where Mayfield’s familiarity with the Panthers’ training camp ends. When Carolina opens camp Wednesday at Wofford College, the heat of Spartanburg, S.C., will drain him differently than summers in Northeast Ohio. Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo’s plays will vary from what Browns coach Kevin Stefanski called. Panthers coach Matt Rhule’s talkative and high-energy style contrasts with Stefanski’s say-less demeanor.
But there is a lot we can learn from Mayfield’s training camps with Cleveland that can be applied to expectations this week. For two seasons before moving the Charlotte, I covered the Browns.
Mayfield is used to changing. McAdoo is his fifth offensive coordinator in as many years. In 2020, Mayfield took on a new offense when the Browns hired Stefanski that January. Two months later, the NFL issued strict COVID-19 policies, eliminating any in-person practices or meetings until early August.
I watched Mayfield adapt and eventually thrive while learning a new system under extreme circumstances.
The first training camp practice open to media that season was strange. The Browns practice on fields behind their facility, which is usually packed with fan-filled bleachers on all sides. Under strict COVID restrictions, only a limited number of media were allowed to attend while the team couldn’t even huddle.
I wondered how Mayfield could learn and master an offense while social distancing from Landry, Odell Beckham Jr., Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt and the offensive line. The practices were productive but low energy. Mayfield was the unquestioned starter searching for meaningful reps against a defense that could only compete in limited stretches.
There were no joint practices or preseason games. Instead, the Browns opened their season with a 38-6 loss to AFC North rival Baltimore. But Mayfield and the Browns won six of their next eight games before a Week 9 bye.
Then everything clicked for Mayfield. He posted career bests in interceptions (8), QBR (65.5) and yards per attempt (7.7). A closer look reveals he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league over his last six games of the 2020 season. Mayfield threw for 1,713 yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception and a 103.4 rating. The Browns went 4-2 before beating the Steelers on wild-card weekend, giving Cleveland its first postseason victory since 1993.
To put those numbers in perspective, project them over 16 games and it translates to 4,568 yards, which would have ranked fifth in the league. His rating over that time would have ranked ninth. Pro Football Focus graded only Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes higher than Mayfield during that stretch.
The adjustments and self-scouting Mayfield needed during training camp and the preseason didn’t happen until the bye week. Perhaps Mayfield would have played that well sooner under normal circumstances.
Mayfield entered training camp in 2021 under complete control of Stefanski’s offense. He barked more when players forgot assignments. Once a rookie Browns linebacker popped Mayfield on a quarterback-keeper; the hit didn’t knock Mayfield down but it was unnecessary. Mayfield let the rookie hear about his boneheaded decision before the coaches laid into him, too.
Since Beckham was returning from an ACL injury, Stefanski allocated a few periods a week where Mayfield and Beckham worked one-on-one. The exclusive throwing session was a spectacle. Mayfield took those reps seriously. It was evident he was throwing, booting and dropping back with a level of urgency usually reserved for competitive team reps.
It was a worthwhile camp for Mayfield. He was sharp, playing relatively mistake-free. Mayfield relied on his tight ends a lot. Austin Hooper and Njoku were his second- and third-favorite targets behind Higgins. The fans (allowed back after lessening COVID protocols) adored him. Mayfield made sure to wave and speak to as many Browns backers as he could after each practice.
Mayfield and the starters played only a quarter of a preseason game in preparation for their season-opener against Kansas City. A rematch of the AFC Divisional game from the year prior.
The Browns lost by one score. Despite throwing a game-high 321 yards, Mayfield tossed an interception with under two minutes to play on the final drive. Then in Week 2, he hurt his left shoulder making a tackle against the Texans. Nothing was the same after that.
Mayfield battled through a torn left labrum, and hip and foot injury, and his stats suffered. The Browns regressed and moved on to Deshaun Watson, leaving Mayfield available for Carolina via trade. He enters Panthers training camp in open competition at quarterback for the first time in his career.
Panthers camp compares to Mayfield’s rookie season when he competed with veteran Tyrod Taylor for the starting job. He wasn’t expected to win but he quickly impressed the team.
“Baker Mayfield has been everything I thought a quarterback should be for our organization thus far,” then Browns coach Hue Jackson told Cleveland.com. “He’s doing the things that we want him to do the way we want him to do it and he’s exceeding those things because he’s putting in the time. He doesn’t have a pride or [arrogance] any kind of way. His thing is, ‘you guys tell me what you need me to do and I’m going to do it and that’s what he’s done since he’s walked in the building and that’s exciting, because that’s a player that’s eager to learn.”
By tapping into that same rookie eagerness, Mayfield can overcome the time crunch he’ll face early in camp. Sam Darnold, rookie Matt Corral and veteran P.J. Walker had all spring to learn the Panthers’ new offense. Mayfield has had a few weeks.
Like his rookie training camp, he’ll come in with nothing handed to him and everything to prove.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Baker Mayfield’s Browns training camps tell us a lot about what Panthers can expect."
