Broncos HC Sounds Off on Rams QB Baker Mayfield
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The Denver Broncos are feeling modestly better after Sunday's win over Arizona. But there's no rest for the weary, as the Broncos will travel to take on the Los Angeles Rams for a Christmas-Day showdown.
When this game was first scheduled, it looked primed to feature a throwdown between two quarterback titans — Russell Wilson vs. Matthew Stafford. The matchup looks a bit different as the Broncos enter game week.
On the heels of missing Week 15 due to a concussion, Wilson is expected to play, but in Stafford's place, it'll be Baker Mayfield calling the signals for the Rams. Stafford suffered a concussion himself, which was followed by a scary spinal-cord contusion, and was placed on injured reserve entering Week 14. That's when Mayfield arrived.
Knowing who he'll be facing on Sunday, Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett talked about Mayfield on Monday and shared his thoughts on the job the young veteran signal-caller has done in Tinseltown.
“I’m going to have to watch him a little bit more to get a feel for him," Hackett said of Mayfield. "He’s been in a lot of places right now. I think three places just this year. I know that’s difficult, so I give him so much credit for what he’s going through. To be able to enter into a team and pick up the system and be able to operate it—I don’t think anybody understands how difficult that is."
Indeed, Mayfield has called three different NFL cities home in this calendar year. Drafted No. 1 overall in 2018 by the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield eventually washed out there and was neutralized when the team acquired Deshaun Watson via trade.
Mayfield wanted out, so Cleveland dealt him to the Carolina Panthers to battle it out with fellow class of 2018 QB Sam Darnold. A lack of team success eventually led the Panthers to supplant Mayfield with Darnold, and the former Heisman Trophy winner was waived.
That's when Sean McVay and the Rams swooped in on Mayfield, and here we are. Mayfield played well in his first game as a Ram, passing for 230 yards and a touchdown in a win over Las Vegas, just days after joining the team.
Mayfield wasn't quite as solid in Game 2 as a Ram, passing for a meager 111 yards and a touchdown with an interception in last week's loss to Green Bay. As Hackett said, kudos to Mayfield for charging headlong into the fray while barely knowing L.A.'s playbook.
Mayfield is only 27 years old and could linger in L.A. beyond 2022 as Stafford's backup. That is, if McVay sticks around.
The Broncos' defense could stage a Christmas feast on Mayfield. The former Oklahoma Sooner is 1-1 all-time against the Broncos.
We'll see.
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