Tiki Barber isn't convinced Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield's attitude is the right one moving forward.
Over the course of his football career, Mayfield has been an outspoken character. His outward nature and “chip on his shoulder” mentality led to him being the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
However, the 25-year-old quarterback is changing his mindset after a disappointing 6-10 campaign during the 2019 season. Earlier in the week, Mayfield made sure to stress to reporters that he will have a different approach entering the 2020 season.
“I have a different approach this year. I think everybody who has been interviewed on our team has hit the nail on the head over and over about this is time to work,” Mayfield said during a Zoom call with reporters on Wednesday. “It is time to do our thing, instead of talking about it. This is the first media thing I have done, just because there is no need to be talking about it. It is just time to go do it and right now, it is moving in silence, which is fine with me.”
While Mayfield will have a more mature approach this season, Barber believes that will work against the young quarterback and the Browns when it comes to success.
“Baker Mayfield made himself by having the chip on his shoulder,” Barber said on Tiki and Tierney. “He made himself by creating adversity with an opponent. He made his way from undersized, unappreciated, transferred to a new school to No. 1 overall pick by being edgy. By having a moxie and by having an attitude and being pissed off at the world for no reason at all. And now he’s going to calm himself down and do it the old school way?”
There is no doubt that Cleveland's underwhelming performance in the face of high expectations last season has forced them to change their approach.
We'll see if Mayfield's quieter approach will result in more wins, but one thing is for certain: his outspoken nature worked against the Browns last season.
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