CLEVELAND, Ohio — Baker Mayfield limped into the bye week with a sore hip and a battered ego from his rocky start.

Through six games, he’s 2-4 with a 66.0 rating for 33rd in the NFL, and tied for third in holding the ball for 2.9 seconds. He’s thrown only five touchdown passes and league-high 11 interceptions, and is on pace for 29 picks, which would shatter Brian Sipe’s record of 26 set in 1979.

The good news for Mayfield is that seven of those picks have bounced off the hands of his receivers or a defender, so they’re not all his fault. The bad news is that 11 is still too many, and he must get it corrected for the Browns to turn this season around.

“He gets all of them,’’ said quarterbacks coach Ryan Lindley. “We don’t put ‘em on anybody else; he’s got all 11 right now. There’s things you can always be better at in every one of those plays that he’s had this year.’’

While Mayfield’s statistics have been horrible this season, including a 56.6 completion percentage that’s also 33rd in the NFL, profootballfocus.com takes a more optimistic view of his performance so far, ranking him No. 16 in the league with a 73.7.

And despite the fact he’s thrown only one touchdown and five interceptions while under pressure, profootballfocus.com has him tied for 11th in the NFL in that category.

“I told you all in the spring, to master the quarterback position is very hard,’’ said Browns GM Dorsey. “You just can’t go and show up and do it. There’s a lot involved in this. He’s in his second year and right now, defensive coordinators are probably throwing different looks that he hasn’t seen, but Baker is one of those guys that he’s smart enough, he’s not going to make the same mistake twice, so he’s learning from that.

“I like where he is and I like his competitiveness. I love everything about him, that hasn’t changed for me one bit in terms of his competitiveness, his ability to throw the football and move this thing. And what I really like is that his teammates like him.”

Greg Robinson has either already been benched or is in jeopardy of it happening

Dorsey has already seen him correct one glaring error from the first few games.

“Early on he was rolling out to his right, a lot of right-handed quarterbacks will do that early in their age, but what I like is all of a sudden through coaching, through Ryan and through Todd (Monkey) and through Freddi (Kitchens), he’s starting to step up within the middle of the pocket and that’s a progression there. Everybody keeps saying there’s inaccuracy in his ball. I still think he throws a good football.”

Therefore, Dorsey is “100 percent’’ still positive Mayfield is the elite QB he drafted No. 1 overall.

“I like his approach to the game of football,’’ he said. “I like the game-planning process. I love that. I like how he goes out and competes. I like the grit he shows. I like how he throws the football. I like how he extends plays. Again, the last I looked, it takes 53 guys to put this thing together. It has to be 53 guys playing the game of football.”

Lindley acknowledged that defensive coordinators have dug into Mayfield’s film and are attacking him differently this year.

“Everybody builds a book on different guys scouting report-wise,’’ he said. “We’ll continue to see how he can react and adapt to those things and we’ll also change what we do.’’

Here are some reasons to believe things will get better for Mayfield down the stretch:

1. The Browns are working to improve the offensive line, including Dorsey trying to trade for seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams. Greg Robinson has either already been benched or is in jeopardy of that happening, a league source told cleveland.com. Other o-line changes are afoot, including possibly Wyatt Teller replacing Eric Kush at right guard.

2. Mayfield’s go-to guy in Rashard Higgins will be back for the Patriots game.

3. Mayfield will continue to develop chemistry and timing with Odell Beckham Jr.

4. Antonio Callaway should be more consistent as he puts the four-game suspension behind him.

5. Kareem Hunt will be back in Week 10 and will be a big part of both the passing game and running game.

Position Grade: C

Mayfield has had to adjust to his third offensive coordinator in two seasons and to a lack of continuity on his receiving corps that dates all the way back to OTAs. It’s not his fault that Odell Beckham Jr. needed time to adjust to the trade and then had a hip injury in training camp. It’s not his fault that Callaway was suspended for four games and that Higgins missed five with a knee injury. It’s also not his fault that his starting tight end in David Njoku broke his wrist and is on IR. Yes, Mayfield must cut down on the mistakes, but he should play a lot better down the stretch with his full complement of receivers and against some lesser defenses.

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