Will Baker Mayfield play in Week 5 despite injury concerns?
The Cleveland Browns and Baker Mayfield are off to a hot start at 3-1, tied with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. Mayfield led the Browns to a 14-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings last week and will now be ready to face the red-hot Los Angeles Chargers on the road at SoFi Stadium this upcoming Sunday.
It was revealed this week that Baker Mayfield has a shoulder injury that he suffered back in Week 2. But will the Cleveland Browns quarterback be able to take the field with the injury sustained to his shoulder a few weeks ago?
Will QB Baker Mayfield play Week 5 vs. the Chargers?
In the Week 2 game against the Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder. Since he's a right-handed quarterback, it looks like he will continue to play as he has since Week 2 (barring any additional setbacks).
#Browns QB Baker Mayfield, who has been wearing a shoulder harness to play, suffered a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder on Sept 19 vs the #Texans, sources say. No surgery needed as of now. He was listed on the report after the injury and hasn’t missed a practice snap.
Mayfield continues to play with his shoulder in a harness to give it extra protection and support. Mayfield has not only played in every game since the injury, but he has continued to be a full participant at practice each week as well.
Last week against the Minnesota Vikings, he did, however, have one of his worst performances of the season. He was just 15 for 33 with 155 passing yards and no passing touchdowns.
Although it is a non-throwing shoulder injury, Mayfield's accuracy seems a bit off, although his arm strength still seems to be unphased as he can still throw the deep pass.
Mayfield on developing his timing with OBJ.
So far this season, Baker Mayfield has thrown for 935 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Mayfield was without one of his top wide receivers in Odell Beckham Jr. as he continued to rehab from his torn ACL last season.
Fellow receiver Jarvis Landry also injured his knee recently and will be out for a few weeks. The good news is that Beckham has returned in the absence of Landry.
Along with the shoulder injury, Mayfield will now have to deal with a trip to the west coast, which is never an easy feat for teams in the eastern part of the United States.
Longer travel and time zone changes can cause difficulties for a team's overall game plan. And, with a tough upcoming opponent in Week Five in the Los Angeles Chargers, the Cleveland Browns could have their hands full this weekend.
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