Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield gestures before the snap during the fifth day of training camp. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

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BEREA, Ohio -- The tempo and vibe at Browns practice Monday was much better in than it was Sunday, and it permeated through the offense on Day 5 of training camp.

The quarterbacks had the entire group going as Drew Stanton bounced back from his veteran day off, and the group performed well as a whole.

The offense had a much better rhythm and did well throwing the ball despite the absence of Odell Beckham Jr. in all team drills.

Let's stop in and check how Baker Mayfield performed in Monday morning's session.

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ROUTE WORK

The offense started the day with tight ends and running backs getting work on their daily timing. The theme for tight ends were 10-yard outs that were thrown right out of the break, and then seam routes against a trailing linebacker in goal line situations.

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The emphasis is for the quarterbacks to put the ball up and away from the defender. The coaching point for goal-line throws will always be that throws to the back of the end zone go high (high-point catches), and throws to the front of the end zone will go lower (away from linebackers).

Mayfield gives tight end David Njoku two well-thrown balls in this drill.

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Mayfield is reading leverage here. If the defender is trailing, throw it high and away. Throw to the back shoulder if he is out in front. And drop it in with touch if the linebacker reads eyes and sits in zone. We see that touch here.

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Then the quarterbacks worked their way down the field to work goal-line and red-zone routes with the wide receivers.

You will see Mayfield throwing the end-zone fade, a scheme the Browns will us often in 2019, to Beckham Jr. here. The aiming point is dropping the ball in a bucket to the back corner of the end zone.

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Lastly the group worked some "snag," or FIN return, routes that aim to run the square-in and then return to the sideline working away from zone coverage.

This is an especially difficult route to cover in the red zone.

Mayfield was sharp during individual drills and when throwing routes. He only had one ball hit the ground incomplete.

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TEAM SESSIONS

The Browns shifted to a variety of team-oriented sessions with live 11-on-11 drills. The majority of the day focused on the run game, but there were chances for Mayfield to attack downfield.

Something Mayfield has been noticeably working on is his propensity to check the ball down to his running back when shots down the field are covered. He gave two great examples of that in team sessions Monday.

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Off the play-action, Mayfield wants to drive the ball down the seam to his left, but he thinks better of it and works right to drop this ball to Dontrell Hilliard out of the backfield.

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After helping with his blocking assignment, running back Nick Chubb releases late, and when Mayfield steps up to escape the pocket, he finds Chubb to his left before he crosses the line of scrimmage.

Getting the ball to Chubb in this situation is much better than Mayfield running it. He noticed that as well.

Mayfield had an effective skelly period (7-on-7) as well. He completed 7 of his 8 attempts and found Derrick Willies and Rashard Higgins several times. He found Willies on this dig route for a nice gain.

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The group also did a session working goal-line sets from just inside the 20-yard line. The Browns set up and effectively ran the screen game for the second day. Mayfield showed nice touch and timing on this ball to Chubb.

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The screen game will be a big part of the Browns' offense in 2019, and their effectiveness with it so far remains promising.

Mayfield also threw a touchdown on a shallow cross, displaying patience and working through his read. It was his second touchdown throw of the day in team drills.

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Willies, who was an active part of the first team at the Z receiver position, makes this catch on the shallow cross, works across the defense and gets into the end zone.

The next throw to Jarvis Landry would have also been a touchdown up the seam, but Landry was held and drew a flag from the back judge.

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FINAL REPORT

8.7/10

Mayfield had his sharpest day of camp so far. He was quick with his decision making and he was accurate to all levels of the field.

He had few throws touch the ground incomplete due to his fault, and he had the offense working at a much better tempo than the group has shown so far.

As the days pass and the Browns give those veterans rest days, it will be important for Mayfield to keep his timing and consistency despite the receivers moving in and out of the lineup.

Overall, a good day for the young quarterback.

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Jake Burns played quarterback at the collegiate level and has also coached at multiple levels.

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