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It was evident that Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. struggled to get on the same page in their first year together with the Cleveland Browns in 2019. Following the duo's disappointing campaign last year, Mayfield opened up about his chemistry with Beckham heading into the 2020 season.
“It's sure as hell going to be a lot better than last year,” Mayfield said of his connection with Beckham. “No, we're just on the same page (with) things we talked about. There was a lot going on in the building last year and we're not going to get into that, but we're both in a better state. He's healthy. His surgery was successful, thank God and he's feeling great.
When the Browns acquired Beckham via trade ahead of the 2019 season, they were instantly labeled as contenders by media pundits. However, a core muscle injury would prevent Beckham from building as good as a rapport as he would have liked with Mayfield.
As a result of his injury, Beckham finished last season with 74 receptions for 1,035 and four touchdowns. All of those numbers were career lows for Beckham in seasons he played in more than four games. Besides getting healthy, Mayfield believes the arrival of new wide receivers coach, Chad O'Shea, will have a positive impact on Beckham.
“He's in a great state of mind and we brought in a receivers coach in Chad O'Shea that's going to push that room and push everybody, scheme wise and just mentality wise. So it's great, it's great to see these guys come back and that's just the focus and the mentality that seems to be kind of going throughout the whole building — is when you get a guy like Odell coming back and you can tell how serious the offseason was for him. It just kind of permeates throughout the whole building.”
For the Browns to make everyone forget about their performance in 2019, they'll need Mayfield and Beckham to be more efficient together. While some may be doubting their connection, Mayfield is confident that he and Beckham will bounce back in a big way in 2020.
