Baker Mayfield's misstep with Duke Johnson is a teachable moment

It's been reported by Mike Silver of NFL Network that after Baker Mayfield's comments about Duke Johnson, some veterans went to Mayfield to let him know they weren't thrilled and the situation has been resolved. Every bit of this is believable.

Mayfield has been such a star in terms of how he's handled going to the Browns, ultimately taking the starting job and then hitting the ground running as a player that it's easy to forget he's a young quarterback still figuring some things out.

This is one of them. Mayfield made a mistake in what he said and I'm sure he understands that. It's a blip on the radar, will be long forgotten and everyone will move on.

The intent, trying to send a message about the team's focus is great, but he's in a league of professionals who are expected to act that way. Undermining that, perhaps suggesting that Duke isn't or wouldn't be is a misstep, especially if Duke ultimately does play for the Browns this season and Mayfield needs him to pass protect as he did last year. Duke has four years of sweat equity build up on this team and that warrants respect.

No player wants to be seen as a prop for ownership. That was a major reason for division within the locker room of the Pittsburgh Steelers between Ben Roethlisberger and players like Antonio Brown that has plagued that team the last several seasons and ultimately led to their ugly divorce.

On this particular situation, the best thing Mayfield could have said is that's an issue between the organization and Duke Johnson, but he knows Duke has always done everything he could to help this team win and as long as he's on this team, he knows that will continue.

Take a note from Jarvis Landry, who in a radio interview on the Ken Carman Show, said of Duke, “Duke is a good friend of mine. We talk all the time. I wish the best for everybody. We’ll be honored to have him if the cards fall in place and he’s still here in Cleveland.”

Simple. Being supportive without actually saying anything.

There are always going to be issues between players and management, including potentially him down the road, so he should always support his teammates as they would him. He doesn't want to put himself in a position to say which ones are justified and which ones aren't. Or just say nothing at all.

Mayfield is a great quarterback and he will learn as he always has from mistakes. I expect he has reached out to Duke whether Duke needed to hear that or not, but the precedent is more about everyone else in that locker room.