NFL Week 17: Best photos from regular season finales across league

Nate Ulrich | Akron Beacon Journal

CINCINNATI — Regressing doesn’t sit well with Baker Mayfield.

The Browns quarterback ended the 2019 season lamenting his high number of interceptions a year after finishing runner-up for NFL offensive rookie of the year and setting the league’s single-season record for touchdown passes with 27.

Mayfield went 12-of-27 passing for 279 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions and posted a rating of 79.6 during Sunday’s 33-23 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale at Paul Brown Stadium.

The performance mirrored Mayfield’s season. He finished with nearly as many interceptions (21) as touchdown passes (22).

“The amount of interceptions I had this year is, I think, more than I’ve had in the past two or three years combined,” Mayfield said. “So it’s quite frankly embarrassing for me, and something I take pride in. I’m not happy with that, but there are a lot of things where I can look back on the film and point out exactly where I went wrong. That’s the good thing about it — it all can be fixed.

“It was a different year for me, going through it with some new pieces and trying to find my way. I definitely didn’t have it all figured out, and it’s been a process along the way, much like everything else this year. A lot of learning lessons — life lessons. For me, I feel like toward the back end of the year I’ve gotten better and come into my own with what I really need to be to push these guys and whatever we have in this locker room. I’m going to come back a different animal come spring time.”

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David Kohl, USA TODAY Sports

The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, Mayfield finished his second NFL season 317-of-534 passing (59.4 percent) for 3,827 yards. He had a passer rating of 78.8. He rushed 28 times for 141 yards (5 average) and three touchdowns and took 40 sacks. He also became the first Browns QB since Tim Couch in 2001 to start all 16 games in a season.

But Mayfield’s drop in production played a significant part in the Browns failing to meet expectations under first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens and finishing with a record of 6-10. The Browns fired Kitchens on Sunday night, and Mayfield said he would be “up for any challenge” when asked about the possibility of working under a new coach before the team announced the move.

“The record was very disappointing,” Mayfield said. “Very close on a lot of things, but that’s the most frustrating part that we didn’t make the changes and make the plays we needed to be in a better position. Very frustrating.”

Speaking about his individual performance Mayfield said there’s going to be “ebbs and flows” every season. Still, he was better as a rookie, when he completed 310-of-486 passes (63.8 percent) for 3,725 yards and 27 TDs with 14 interceptions and posted a rating of 93.7.

“You’re going to have a process, and it’s never going to come easy,” said Mayfield, who became the ninth player in NFL history to throw at least 20 touchdown passes in each of his first two seasons. “You always have to push yourself and continue to strive to be better. There’s a lot of things that happened, and we faced a lot of adversity this year. This locker room stayed together, so I’m proud of that part of it. The execution part on the field is stuff that we just quite frankly have to be better at.”

Mayfield vowed to work with his receivers earlier and more often in the upcoming offseason. He said mastering “timing and being precise” will be the keys to reducing his interceptions.

He also explained he needs to be a better leader because “consistency and leadership” were ingredients the Browns lacked this year.

“To be able to command a locker room consistently is not an easy task,” Mayfield said. “That’s something I do pride myself on is having the respect of everybody, and I’ve got to continue that with whatever pieces we have.”

Mayfield’s teammates have faith he’ll deliver.

“I saw a growing quarterback,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said. “He’s continuing to grow. He’s continuing to learn. With experience, like I tell him, too, a lot of things in life and not just football, sometimes failure breeds success. They come hand in hand. But he’s one of those guys who’s going to look critically at himself and see whatever he can do to get better and come back next year and continue to be the guy for us.”

Follow the Akron Beacon Journal's Nate Ulrich on Twitter @ByNateUlrich.

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