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Todd Monken: Cleveland Browns’ offense needs to do better collectively around QB Baker Mayfield

Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken says the offense needs to do better collectively around second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield.

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns have struggled to turn red-zone trips into points throughout most of the 2019 regular season, and that was a trend that continued in last Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Additionally, the Browns have struggled in moving the ball down the field during end-of-half and late-game situations, and while quarterbacks get most of the credit for victories, Cleveland signal-caller Baker Mayfield has caught much of the criticism for the issues.

“Collectively, we have to do it better and that is always the case,” Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “It is not as if I look and say, ‘Boy, it feels like over a certain amount of time, the velocity is down’ or in terms of going through a progression.

“We have to do it better. That is a fact collectively, and when we do that, then we will continue to see our growth in consistency. That is what you are looking for is just the consistency against the best in the world, and that is what it comes down to, everyone doing their job consistently so that you are not choppy. That has been the big issue. It is just when we stop moving it, it is because we have been inconsistent and been choppy in terms of everybody taking their turns.”

Credit: AP
Baker Mayfield, quarterback de los Browns de Cleveland, festeja luego de anotar en una conversión de dos puntos durante el encuentro ante los Jets de Nueva York, el jueves 20 de septiembre de 2018 (AP Foto/Ron Schwane)

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National Football League quarterbacks are judged on many levels, from passing yards and touchdowns to victories and championships, but those who reach the pinnacle of success at the game’s highest level have a common trait.

All of them have delivered in critical end-of-half, end-of-game and come-from-behind situations, and Mayfield is working to become the kind of leader that makes game-winning plays in the clutch.

“Pressing is probably a stretch,” Monken said. “I think anytime you get to the end of the game and you need a score, you have to make some plays down the field. If we are speaking about last Sunday, he was just trying to make a play. We had to push the ball down the field. We needed a touchdown.”

Credit: AP
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) passes as he is pressured by Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree (48) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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In those late-game situations this season, Mayfield has completed only five of his 16 attempts (31.25 percent) for 76 yards with three first downs and three interceptions while trailing the opponent with less than two minutes to play.

With less than four minutes remaining and the Browns trying to mount a comeback, Mayfield has completed 11 of his 27 attempts (40.74 percent) for 149 yards with seven first downs and four interceptions.

Credit: David Richard/AP
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks to pass in the first quarter of a game against the Miami Dolphins at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on Sunday, November 24, 2019.

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That level of productivity is opposite what Mayfield was able to accomplish as a rookie in 2018, where he was 23 for 37 (62.16 percent) for 253 yards, 14 first downs and four touchdowns against one interception in games the Browns trailed with less than four minutes to play.

Despite the struggles through the first 12 games of 2019, Monken has “no doubt” that Mayfield will be the kind of leader the Browns expected him to be when they selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

“I think he is a tremendous, tremendous football player -- competitor, smart, tough, has a rare competitive quality and a rare want to be great,” Monken said. “That is the thing that I think is going to continue to push him and for him to push the rest of our offensive group.

“In my mind, we have the right guy going forward.”

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