The Cleveland Browns got a major scare on Sunday after seeing Baker Mayfield leave the game against the Houston Texans. The former first-overall pick attempted to make a tackle after throwing an interception on third-and-13 and the impact torqued his body awkwardly -- forcing him into the locker room for a brief stretch early in the second quarter.
Mayfield was helped off of the field and was not moving his arm while being aided by Browns trainers, but there's at least a positive sign in how quickly he returned to the sideline shortly thereafter.
Here's what happened to Baker, looks bad..pic.twitter.com/FoGLlSvfoz
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 19, 2021
Mayfield was also throwing, hoping to return to the game, and he has, but this is a situation to monitor. Considering how much pain he was in, it's unclear if he'll be 100 percent as he tries to lead the Browns to a comeback win against a suddenly electric Texans team and a white-hot Tyrod Taylor.
Mayfield is hoping to parlay the 2021 season into a record-setting contract extension with the Browns, and remaining available will be paramount for him in that capacity, and for a Browns team looking to build upon what was a special regular season one year ago.
He wasn't able to punctuate an early lead against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, and now he's up against a wall in Week 2. Scoring a touchdown after the above incident certainly helps his chances of avoiding the dreaded 0-2 start to the season, but it was on a five-yard run and not a pass. The Browns will take it though, while still monitoring his throws for the remainder of the game.
