Heading into Week 5’s matchup against Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale paid the rookie quarterback pretty much the highest possible compliment.
He said Mayfield is this generation’s Brett Favre or John Elway.
No pressure, right?
On Friday, Browns head coach Hue Jackson had a funny response to all that.
#Browns coach Hue Jackson on #Ravens DC Don "Wink" Martindale saying Baker Mayfield is this generation's Favre/Elway: "Huh? … Tell Don thank you, but I'm not buying that. … Tell him you're not buttering us up that way. That's not gonna work."
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 5, 2018
Any objective observer has to be impressed by what Mayfield has accomplished in the short time since he took over as the main man under center for Cleveland. He’s completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 496 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, leading Cleveland to its first win in 635 days in the process.
He also has a significant amount of bravado and has the ability to instill confidence into his teammates, which is very rare for young quarterbacks.
So, in some ways it’s easy to understand why the comparisons were made. On the other hand, it’s easy to understand where Jackson is coming from as well.