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Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was fined for criticizing officials following the Week 6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He appears to still be adamant about getting his point across.
It is safe to say that being fined $12,500 did not sit well with Mayfield. He was not shy about voicing his displeasure with the officiating once again, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
“One, I would not say it was complaining when it was blatantly obvious,” Mayfield said. “I would say that is just stating facts. Freedom of speech, I thought that is OK, but I get fined for it. That is the league. That is what they do. They fine you for some ridiculous things. It is just how it is. There is a reason everybody is talking about it. It is not just me. It goes for every team. With how our team is, we are not going to get a lot of calls and we know that. Especially going into this week, there is no time to worry about it and no time to stress about it. Just play our game.”
The NFL has made efforts to prevent such criticisms coming into the 2019 NFL season by stating any violation of the rule could allow them to take disciplinary action. However, the alarming number of questionable calls have left teams and fans alike calling for officials to be held accountable the same way the players are.
It remains to be seen whether or not the league will ever consider actually making this come to fruition. Regardless, there is no question that bad officiating is hardly the biggest reason behind Cleveland's abysmal start to the year.
Mayfield is in the midst of a disastrous 2019 campaign after throwing for a mere five touchdowns and a league-leading 11 interceptions while completing just 56.6 percent of his passes. It is clear that his issues go far beyond any bad calls made by the referees and he may want to focus on getting back on track out of the bye rather than potentially having to write another check to the NFL.
