Baker Mayfield is one tough dude, and he will get to choose if he can play in two days against the visiting Denver Broncos or not.
Mayfield has been dealing with an injured shoulder — his non-throwing shoulder — but still, it’s apparently incredibly sore and may keep him out of this week’s Thursday Night Football game.
According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Mayfield has a torn labrum in that left shoulder which was either made worse or fully torn by this tackle on Sunday:
Baker landed awkwardly on his shoulder with his arm out pic.twitter.com/UkR91l0zOe
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 17, 2021
As Howe explained in his twitter thread, Mayfield’s issue will be dealing with the pain, and if he can manage it as well as the inflammation, he’ll give it a go against the reeling Broncos in two days.
“It’s my decision. I get to say whether I play or not, and that’s just how it is,” Mayfield said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
When asked if he’s going to gut it out and play to send his team a message, Mayfield explained, “No one’s going to give us any mercy or feel bad for us. I’m not doing it to send a message. I’m doing it because we need to win. We’re 3-3. We need to go out there and do our damn job and find a way to win on a short week. It’s as simple as that.”
Similar to the Broncos — who started 3-0 and have fallen to earth at 3-3 — the Browns have dropped their last two games to the Chargers and Cardinals, giving up 47 and 37 points respectively.
Simply, the Browns need to stop the bleeding and they’ll clearly need their star quarterback Mayfield to help them beat the Broncos, reeling or not, this Thursday. Offensively, the Browns rank ninth in scoring (26.0 PPG) and Mayfield has been key to that success, even if he has six total turnovers in six games.
If Mayfield can’t play, it would mean Case Keenum could try to get his revenge on Denver. The 10-year veteran played for the Broncos back in 2018 and was cast away quickly after.
As for the Browns, the’ll also be without their leading running back in Nick Chubb, who’s already been ruled out with a calf injury.
The Broncos are beat up on both sides of the ball as well, including losing starting linebacker Alexander Johnson for the year with a pectoral injury on Sunday. He joined fellow starter Josey Jewell who’s on the Injured Reserve, and backup linebacker Barron Browning sustained a concussion on Sunday, too.
Defensively, Denver started the season as the best scoring unit in the league. But over their last three games, the Broncos are giving up far more big plays than they’re making on offense.
Speaking of that offense — which ranks 22nd (21.0 PPG) — Teddy Bridgewater may not be able to go, either. Bridgewater, who sustained a concussion in Week 5 but played in Week 6, was hammered all game long by the Las Vegas Raiders and was a limited participant today in practice due to an injured foot.
Bridgewater has struggled as of late, partially due to awful pass protection by the offensive line — but he’s been a vast improvement over Drew Lock from the last two years.
If Lock has to play, the offense will likely struggle even more than it has the last three weeks, when Denver’s started off slowly and rallied in “too little, too late” style repeatedly.
Simply, both teams desperately need a win this Thursday night, and both could be without their starting quarterbacks. However, it sounds like both Mayfield and Bridgewater will try to gut it out and play in primetime.
