BEREA, Ohio — First-year Browns quarterback coach Ryan Lindley says Baker Mayfield is still the elite, franchise QB the Browns believed he was when they drafted him No. 1 overall last year.

It’s just a matter of time before it emerges again.

“On a day-to-day basis, you still see the things he does on the field and the way he carries himself,’’ Lindley said Tuesday. “The best part is he’s still young and he’s still growing. You see what that kid’s going to become and what he is and that’s something special.’’

With the Browns at 2-4 and in their bye week, Mayfield is 33rd in the NFL with a 66.0 rating and has a league-high 11 interceptions. He’s tied for 27th with only five TD passes and is 33rd with a 56.6 completion percentage. He’s 24th in ESPN’s total QBR rating at 39.8.

Lindley attributes it to defenses digging into Mayfield’s film and finding ways to attack him this season. The biggest defensive genius of them all, Bill Belichick, is waiting for a week from Sunday.

“[Defenses] are mixing up coverages,’’ he said. “It’s something you see with everybody when guys go from their first to second year. Everybody builds a book on different guys scouting report-wise. He’s going to see different looks. People have looked at his tape last year, too, and we’re seeing how people play him differently.

“We’ll continue to see how he can react and adapt to those things and we’ll also change what we do.’’

In the season’s early weeks, smart defensive coordinators such as Gregg Williams and Wade Phillips confused him by switching coverage after the snap.

“He’s seeing things for the first time and people are throwing different looks at him than he’s seen,’’ Lindley said. “We’re learning as we go. We’re in a heckuva lot better place than we were a few weeks ago.’’

He said the biggest thing for Mayfield, who’s sitting out practice during the bye week with his hip injury but will be ready for New England Oct. 27, is to take what defenses are giving him.

“You don’t want to force things,’’ Lindley said. “Especially with where we’re sitting right now, the way Nick Chubb’s playing, we can do that. He’s running the ball well, we’re blocking well up front. Let’s just extend drives and keep things rolling.’’

Asked if Mayfield has regressed, Lindley said, “it’s tough. It’s a game of numbers, it’s a results-driven business. We look at what he grades out at, what he’s doing, what we’re asking him to do. We’ve shown improvement every week and we’ll build on that.’’

Although seven of Mayfield’s 11 interceptions have come on tipped balls or deflections, Lindley cut him no slack.

“He gets all of them,’’ said Lindley. “We don’t put ‘em on anybody else; he’s got all 11 right now.’’

Lindley said the thinking there is, “in our room, you have to think that everybody has to be held accountable for what they’re doing. As coaches you have to do that, too. If I told him to do something that led to one of those interceptions, then it’s on me as well.’’

He acknowledged that on the pass intended for Jarvis Landry but picked off in the end zone vs. the Seahawks, Mayfield could’ve “put it more out front. Some of it’s just bad bounces. It’s a game of inches and a game of breaks. If they don’t bounce your way it can end up pretty rough.”

Lindley noted that Mayfield has been a half-step off here and there.

“You always want to work on your feet, you always want to work on your timing; I think it’s just details right now,’’ he said. “We need to hash some things out and make sure we’re in rhythm. If you want a buzzword, that’s probably it. We’re not all the way there.’’

He said new guys in the mix is part of it.

“We’ve got some new things we’re trying to do, too," he said. "We’ve asked him to do some different stuff than we did last year. We’ve got to find a groove of what feels good with everybody in the equation.’’

He said there’s been vast improvement since Week 1 and “I think it’s getting there. It’s just not where we want it to be.’’

He knows passes have bounced off guys’ hands in the red zone, where Mayfield is 9-for-29 — including 4-of-17 inside the 10 — but “the red zone’s a place where you’ve got to spin it in there. If you tell a guy to back off, then you’re late on some throws. We just get some bad bounces down there, some stuff that went our way last year. This year we just need to connect and avoid those mistakes where you put it in luck’s hands so to speak.’’

He added that sometimes Mayfield’s feet and mind aren’t in sync.

“Sometimes it’s with his feet, he speeds himself up," he said. "At times he thinks maybe too quickly, his feet follow up and you’re trying to catch up. It’s a variety of different things. Whether it’s his feet, whether it’s his mind at times, we all need to iron it down and get on the same page.’’

Freddie Kitchens wouldn’t say if he’ll spend more time coaching Mayfield to help get him back on track and delegate other responsibilities.

“I think we have a good setup, and I’m really not going to comment on anything that we’re doing different now than we were the first part of the year,’’ he said. “I’ll just leave it at that. We have some good coaches here. ... It’s about us going on the field, getting better, and making plays.”

Besides, he said, “what you have to understand with a quarterback is some of these things he has to figure out himself. You can tell him all you want. Sometimes you have hard lessons to learn.’’

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