Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns are set to take on the New York Jets on “Monday Night Football” this coming week.
It’s a big game for both teams after the Browns and Jets dropped their season openers. It also pits Mayfield against fellow second-year quarterback Sam Darnold in New Jersey.
The backstory here is first-year Jets head coach Adam Gase and his apparent preference for Mayfield over Darnold in the lead up to the 2018 NFL Draft when Gase was the Miami Dolphins’ head coach.
“It was the worst-kept secret in the Dolphins’ building. Gase believed that Mayfield, who rolls into town with the Browns for a Monday night showdown against the Jets, was clearly better than Sam Darnold, according to sources familiar with the situation,” Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News reported Tuesday.”
Mehta went on to note that Gase also liked current Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen more than Darnold.
As you likely already know, Mayfield went No. 1 overall to Cleveland. The Jets ultimately traded up for Mr. Darnold to take him with the third pick.
This report is certainly going to get the rounds in the nation’s largest media market. It will also make its way to the Jets’ locker room ahead of their Week 2 game.
Does it mean anything outside of an eye-opening headline? We’re not too sure.
What we do know is that both Darnold and Mayfield have a lot to prove after Week 1 stinkers. Darnold’s Jets blew a 16-0 lead against the above-mentioned Allen and his Bills. Meanwhile, Mayfield threw three interceptions in a blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Popcorn will be available for the masses once Monday come calling. No word yet on whether salt will be included.