Baker Mayfield can prove a lot to the Browns vs. this aggressive Ravens defense, ESPN MNF’s Brian Griese says

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baker Mayfield can prove a lot to Browns — and the rest of the country — on Monday night against the aggressive Ravens defense, ESPN Monday Night Football color commentator Brian Griese says.

“What you’re trying to ascertain is when defenses like the Ravens bring pressure and play tight man-to-man coverage, how does he perform?’’ Griese, a former 11-year NFL quarterback told cleveland.com. “This will be a great test because [Ravens defensive coordinator] Wink Martindale will bring pressure. That’s who he is. They’ve got two great corners in Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey that’ll lock down on Jarvis Landry and Higgins, and Jimmy Smith on Donovan Peoples Jones.

“So you’re going to see tight man-to-man. You’re going to see pressure, and how well Baker handles that, you’ll begin to get some answers.’’

Eleven of Mayfield’s 21 TD passes have come against the Bengals and Titans when not pressured, but he must now prove he can flourish when the heat is on. When pressured this season, he’s 38th in the NFL with a 32.0 rating, with one touchdown and four interceptions. When kept clean like he was almost the entire game in Tennessee, he’s seventh in the NFL with a 115.9 rating with 20 touchdowns and only 3 INTs.

In the two games this season vs. heavy pressure, the Browns lost 38-6 to the Ravens in the opener and 38-7 to the Steelers in Week 7. The Ravens (7-5) are only 16th in the NFL with 28 sacks, but Martindale will dial up an array of blitzes to confuse the Browns, and they must be ready.

“There’s not a lot of quarterbacks that excel under pressure,’’ Griese said. “Part of the role of the coach and the offensive line is to minimize the pressure on the quarterback, and a good run game will do that. Last week he was only pressured [four times] in 33 dropbacks. That’s a great recipe.’’

Griese also expects Browns coach Kevin Stefanski to rely heavily on his tight ends, even if Austin Hooper sits out the game with his neck injury.

“Kevin Stefanski is a smart football coach,’’ Griese said. “He’s not going to come out in 11 personnel (one back and three wide receivers) and play to the strengths of the Ravens defense. I expect them to come out in 13 personnel, three tight ends, two tight ends. Find the matchups in man coverage that he likes, that he dictates, whether it’s Kareem Hunt on a linebacker or Austin Hooper or David Njoku. That’s the game within the game to take the pressure off of Baker Mayfield.’’

Griese, who covered Mayfield all the way back in his first college stint at Texas Tech, isn’t surprised Mayfield has come under such intense scrutiny this season.

“That’s not unique to Baker,’’ he said. “Playing quarterback in the NFL, until you prove that you can do it at a high level, on a consistent basis, people are going to question whether you deserve to be that franchise quarterback.

“Every rookie quarterback that comes into the league, when they get into their third year and you start to talk about the fourth and fifth year and redoing contracts and all that, that’s the conversation that happens. So there’s no question that Baker knew that in back of his mind this was a big year. There’s a lot on the line, obviously for this team, but for him personally and going forward.’’

While the Browns are certainly talking like a team that’s confident they have their man, Griese says there’s no rush to judgment.

Mayfield is playing himself into extension territory

“I think they see how the last month of the season plays out and I think Baker’s matured more than anything,’’ he said. “I think he’s more authentic. That’s what he said to me (in production meetings). He said ‘I need to be more authentic, and more consistent,’ and I think that’s the right attitude.

“He’s always been externally motivated. I think he’s more motivated now by the opportunity with this team in particular and that’s a good sign for him.’’

What’s more Griese said, he now has a coach in Stefanski who will play to his strengths, with play-action, keepers, a strong running game and more. The result is that Mayfield has climbed to No. 11 in the NFL with a 97.9 rating — up 11 spots from before last week’s 41-35 victory over the Titans. He’s also gone 156 attempts and five straight games without an interception.

“It’s just great to see that he finally is getting the type of coaching that will give him a chance,’’ Griese said. “The marriage between Kevin and Baker has been phenomenal. Now we’ll see if the honeymoon can continue, as you get further and further into the season and games like Monday night are going to go a long way in determining the future of these two guys and how they go into the playoffs potentially and what they can do in the playoffs.’’

Jarvis Landry ‘absolutely’ believes Mayfield is the Browns’ franchise QB; Alex Van Pelt too

Griese studied the first meeting between these teams, and sees a much different Mayfield than the one who earned a 65.0 rating in that game (21-of-39 attempts, 189 yards, 2 sacks, 1 TD, 1 INT).

“He’s so much more comfortable now,’’ Griese said. “The No. 1 question I was trying to answer in preparation for this week is, ‘Why is he more comfortable?’ And obviously watching the first game against Baltimore, there were a lot of of kinks that needed to be worked out for Baker in a new offense with a new play caller, and understandably there were some missed plays and some miscommunications.’’

Operating from within the pocket, Mayfield had three passes broken up by 6-foot-8 tackle Calais Campbell, who’s questionable for this game with a calf injury.

“You look at the first drive of that game and the tip by Calais Campbell and the interception, the way that they started the season, it was going to take some time,’’ Griese said. “In talking with Kevin, he knew that the run game was going to be ahead of the passing game. And that’s the way that the first part of the season played out, but watching Baker now he’s so much more comfortable with his reads, with what the players around him can do well.

“He’s understanding the core principles of this offense with Kevin Stefanski and understanding that No. 1 in his mind is protecting the football. It’s not a secret. He’s taken ownership of the offense and I think you can see he’s playing a lot more confidently because of it.’’

Outside of studying the personnel, Griese doesn’t believe there’s much about that first game that informs this one.

“This Browns team is completely different,’’ he said. “In this game, it’s a key for both teams to start fast because I don’t believe either team is built to come from behind. You don’t want Baker dropping back 35-40 times times against a defense like this. You want to still have that running game and play-action combination and we know the Ravens are not built to come from behind. So, the first half of this game is going to be critical to both teams.’’

Like Mayfield, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson seems to have gotten his groove back, Griese said.

The Ravens have lost four of their last six, but were mired in COVID-19 hell and are getting most of their players back healthy. Jackson, who sat out the 19-14 loss to the Steelers two weeks ago with the virus, rebounded in a 34-17 victory over the Cowboys in which he rushed for 94 of the Ravens 294 yards and a TD, and threw TD passes against one INT en route to a 101.8 rating.

“Lamar just needs to be Lamar,’’ Griese said. “At the beginning part of this year, he was listening to a lot of the talk outside of their building, proving that he can throw the ball from the pocket. In the first game of the year against Cleveland, [defensive coordinator] Joe Woods kept him in the pocket and Lamar torched him from the pocket. But I think that there’s been so much tumult with the Ravens team in the last month, it’s been hard to get a real bead on who this team will be going forward.’’

Griese suspects the 7-5 Ravens — fighting for their playoff lives — will give the Browns their best shot. Jackson has said they’re viewing it as a “win or go home” game and they’ll leave everything on the field. The Ravens can still make the playoffs if they lose this game, but they’d have the win their final three against the Jaguars, Giants and Bengals, and then likely rely on tiebreakers.

“They’re getting healthy, and they’re getting their best players back,’’ Griese said. “Lamar, in talking with him this week, his positive COVID test and not being able to play kind of reset his mind, and we saw last week against the Cowboys he was more instinctive — and that’s not a good thing for defenses going against Lamar. They know who they are. They know how they want to play against the Browns defensively.’’

He said they’ve had to regroup this season because of the retirement of eight-time Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda and the loss of Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley to a torn ACL Nov. 2.

“This offense is not the same as it was a year ago,’’ Griese said. “It’s not as explosive. You lose your two best offensive linemen and then you have to shuffle Orlando Brown around from right tackle to left tackle and they’re trying to find a center and they’re playing a rookie at right tackle (Tyre Phillips) against Myles Garrett. So I don’t think there’s any secret that this is going to be a physical approach from them on the offense side and see whether the Browns defense, especially their run defense can hold up.’’

Despite Garrett, tied for third in the NFL with 10.5 sacks, moving around to exploit the weak link on a line, Griese thinks his bigger contribution will come against the run.

“It’s not going to be a pass-rush game,’’ he said. “But Myles is good against the run as well. In talking with him yesterday, he understands the importance of the fits, and this is an assignment and a gap game that if you get out of your gap, Lamar will make you pay. He’ll make you pay for long distances.

“It’s a discipline game. It’s not going to be a game where Myles is running up the field and trying to get sacks on Lamar Jackson. lf you get a sack on Lamar, it’s going to be because all four defensive linemen have rushed together and kept him in the pocket.’’

Griese expects Woods to have a great game plan like he did last week in Tennessee, where he used five defensive linemen to shut down running back Derrick Henry — who rushed for only 60 yards against the Browns and rebounded with 215 against the Jaguars on Sunday. But he doubts five d-linemen will be it Monday night.

“That was unique to what Tennessee and Derrick Henry did,’’ he said. “This is a very different and unique run game, with the quarterback run game in particular that you’re going to need good line play, but you’re also going to need great play from the second level. And those linebackers Sione Takitaki, B.J. Goodson and Mack Wilson.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they played Jacob Phillips a little bit more. He played well recently. You’re going to need the safeties in Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo to really be a part of that run game defense as well.’’

Griese believes the game can go either way depending on who jumps out to the early lead, and that the national television audience is in for quite a show.

“I can’t wait,’’ he said. “I think it’s going to be a great game.’’

–

New Browns face masks for sale: Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Browns-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection for adults and youth, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All NFL proceeds donated to CDC Foundation.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.