BEREA, Ohio — Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is not practicing Wednesday in hopes of letting several injuries heal so he can play this week against the winless Detroit Lions.
Mayfield has played most of the season with a torn labrum and fracture in his left, non-throwing shoulder. He suffered a bruised right knee in Sunday’s loss to New England, which came a week after he hurt his left foot at Cincinnati.
“This is probably the most beat up I’ve ever been in my career, and it’s not like it’s one particular thing, it’s multiple,” said Mayfield, who limped slightly as he walked to the podium to speak with reporters.
“It’s just that time of year.”
But it’s also a critical stretch for the Browns (5-5), whose playoff hopes are fading with each loss.
After playing the Lions (0-8-1), they’ll begin a unique three-week stretch in which they’ll face Baltimore, get their bye, and play the Ravens (6-3) again with perhaps the AFC North on the line.
At this point, Mayfield plans to play again this week – he missed one game with the shoulder injury – but said he won’t push things by practicing.
“There’s no reason to make things worse if I don’t need to,” he said. “I have plenty of time until Sunday, so we’ll see what happens.”
The injuries have played a role in Mayfield’s inconsistency. He posted a 132.6 passer rating on Nov. 7 against the Bengals, but last week went just 11 for 21 for a career-low 73 yards before leaving with the knee injury.
He has just nine touchdown passes in nine games and acknowledged the injuries have affected his play.
“Yeah, there’s definitely a couple plays where I look back and say I should have used my feet here and there, but you have to adapt,” Mayfield said. “Nobody is going to feel bad for you. It’s not an excuse. You just have to find a way to make a play.”
JETS: The Mike White era is over almost as quickly as it began.
Joe Flacco will start at quarterback for the New York Jets on Sunday at home against the Miami Dolphins, a surprising decision by the 2-7 team that will be without injured starter Zach Wilson for the fourth straight game.
Wilson, the No. 2 overall draft pick, sprained the posterior collateral ligament in his right knee against New England on Oct. 24 and is still not 100%. White started the last three games in Wilson’s place, but the Jets decided to go with the 36-year-old Flacco this week against the Dolphins’ aggressive defense.
“One of the reasons we went and got Joe was for the experience part of it,” Coach Robert Saleh said. “Not only for the playing ability and for the (quarterbacks) room, but also for situations just like this. Miami’s got a dynamic coverage system as it pertains to defense with (cover) zero and all the different coverages they run, and Joe’s kind of been there, done that.
“Just kind of a steadying experience that we thought would put us in the best position to win.”
White, who’ll serve as Flacco’s backup Sunday, became a sudden celebrity with a terrific first NFL start in a win over Cincinnati while throwing for 405 yards and three touchdowns and set a league record for a player in his initial start with 37 completions. The performance landed White’s jersey and game ball in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
It also had some fans and media wondering if perhaps White – and not Wilson – could be the Jets’ long-term answer at quarterback.
But White lasted less than one quarter the following week at Indianapolis because of a bruised nerve in his throwing hand. And he struggled last Sunday in a 45-17 loss to Buffalo, throwing four interceptions against the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
White had the wind knocked out of him late in the game and was replaced on the Jets’ final drive by Flacco, who went 3 for 3 for 47 yards and a touchdown pass – the 225th of his career.
Still, it appeared White would continue to start as long as Wilson was sidelined, especially after Saleh said Monday he was fascinated by the New York/New Jersey media market and how people were quick to anoint him “the next coming after one game and now everyone wants to throw him away. He deserves better than that.”
But not enough to get one more start.
“I want to be very, very clear on this one: My comments on Monday were because people wanted him out of New York,” Saleh said. “And what Mike has done in three weeks as a starter is proven to this entire organization, and in my opinion, to the entire New York fan base, that he is a capable quarterback who can play in this league and could do a lot of good things. We’re more excited about Mike as a quarterback in our future and working with Mike for as many years as possible because of what he’s been able to do in his three starts.
“He’s also a young guy. He’s also got some inexperience to him.”
COVID-19: The NFL is requiring players and staff to wear masks inside team facilities regardless of vaccination status for a week starting on Thanksgiving, and they must be tested twice for COVID-19 after the holiday.
The league’s protocols were updated as a result of increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger each missed a game in consecutive weeks because of COVID-19.
Additional masking will not be required outdoors or in the practice bubble. Testing will take place on Monday Nov. 29 and Wednesday Dec. 1.
Also, the league is encouraging teams to offer drive-through COVID-19 testing for friends and family of players and staff if they’re visiting or staying with them for Thanksgiving. The testing should be conducted before friends and family interact with players and staff, and should be arranged at times separate from when players and staff are testing.
Teams were reminded to strictly enforce protocols at their facilities. The NFL is offering to send league staff to assist with the enforcement of the protocols at club facilities.
Last week, the NFL fined the Packers $300,000 and issued $14,650 fines to Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard for violations of league and players’ union protocols.
PACKERS: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who missed a game because of COVID-19 and didn’t rejoin the team until the day before Sunday’s 17-0 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, wasn’t on the practice field Wednesday because of an injured toe.
“I’m not sure what my status will be tomorrow or Friday, but I’d like to get out there if I’m feeling good enough,” Rodgers said.
“But it’s definitely a better week than last week being separated, being able to go through all the meetings. I plan on being at practice on the field tomorrow. Not sure how much involvement I’ll do, though.”
CHARGERS: The Chargers could be without three-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Joey Bosa on Sunday after he was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list.
Another defensive starter, tackle Jerry Tillery, also ended up on the list, leaving his status for the Chargers’ game against Pittsburgh at SoFi Stadium in doubt.
Bosa is unvaccinated and Tillery is vaccinated, according to a person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
SEAHAWKS: The status of Seattle Chris Carson remains uncertain, with Coach Pete Carroll saying the bruising back has not made the “positive progress” the team was hoping.
Carson returned to practice last week in a limited capacity after missing the previous four games with a neck ailment.
LIONS: Detroit held out Jared Goff from Wednesday’s practice after the starting quarterback suffered an oblique injury in last week’s game against Pittsburgh.
His absence raises questions about his availability for Sunday’s against the Cleveland Browns.
Goff, who said he was more sore than expected this week, ended up finishing Sunday’s game, which was a 16-16 tie. The Lions quarterback was only able to complete 14 of 25 passes for 114 yards. On Wednesday, he admitted the injury affected his throwing motion against the Steelers.
HENRY RUGGS III: A Las Vegas judge ordered former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III to appear before her on Monday after learning he missed a required alcohol test while on house arrest following a fatal crash he’s accused of causing by driving drunk at speeds up to 156 mph.
Ruggs’ lawyers told Justice of the Peace Suzan Baucum that Ruggs “self-tested” negative shortly after missing one of his calls for a breath test last weekend. Ruggs’ attorney, David Chesnoff, blamed the delay on trouble with testing equipment.
A note posted later in the court record shows Ruggs missed a test at 4:41 p.m. Saturday and that he completed “a client initiated remote breath test” at 6:28 p.m.
The alcohol monitoring agency noted that it “cannot confirm Mr. Ruggs’ sobriety during this point-in-time,” and said Ruggs’ attorney provided an updated phone number for text notifications for Ruggs’ remote breath test.
Ruggs, 22, was not in court Wednesday for the brief hearing during which Baucum also told his lawyers she won’t issue a subpoena for fire department records about the fatal Nov. 2 crash and fire. The judge said the attorneys can get those records on their own. Ruggs could face a return to jail. A judge who set his bail at $150,000 warned Ruggs directly that if he didn’t comply with release restrictions he faced rearrest.
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