Cleveland Browns: Hue Jackson and Todd Haley hurting Baker Mayfield?
By Dan Justik
The situation between Cleveland Browns coaches Hue Jackson and Todd Haley could harming the development of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson ruffled some feathers following Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers when he said that he might become more hands on with the offense.
Jackson also hinted at the possibility of taking over play-calling duties, but he refuted that notion during Monday’s press conference.
The situation with the two coaches has some wondering if it is affecting their rookie quarterback. Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network shared her opinion of the situation on 92.3 The Fan on Tuesday.
.@AKinkhabwala on @923TheFan on whether Hue Jackson-Todd Haley situation is affecting rookie QB Baker Mayfield: “I think you’re smart enough to know the answer to that...” pic.twitter.com/p3csziZUlW
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) October 23, 2018
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Ever since Baker Mayfield’s strong first performances, the offense has sputtered the last couple of weeks.
One of the reasons for that is because Haley has a complex offense, and he is throwing a lot of different concepts at Mayfield. Mayfield has made rookie mistakes along the way, but Haley is not making things easy for the rookie quarterback.
But having the head coach publicly question the offensive coordinator could cause Mayfield to start to second-guess Haley. If Mayfield is not confident in what the offensive coordinator is calling, the play may not work as effectively.
Haley has been calling a lot of long-developing plays, which is forcing Mayfield to sit in the pocket and wait for the routes the wide receivers are running to open up. But the Browns currently do not have the offensive tackles or wide receivers for these types of plays to work.
The wide receivers are not creating enough separation to give Mayfield a spot to throw the ball. Other than Jarvis Landry, Mayfield does not seem to trust his other receivers to make a play in a tight window.
Something that made Mayfield such a good quarterback was his fearlessness of throwing into tight windows. However, in the past few games, Mayfield is holding the ball longer than usual and not hitting his receivers.
The Browns offensive tackles have also struggled to give Mayfield time in the pocket. Both Desmond Harrison and Chris Hubbard have allowed pass rushers to collapse the pocket, forcing Mayfield to scramble. And for the most part, there has not been enough space for Mayfield to get out of the pocket.
The Browns have been near the top of the league in deep passes, and they have one of the worst completion percentages on those plays in the league. And that does not account for the amount of sacks that Mayfield has taken on these long developing plays.
As the Browns continue to struggle to hit on these plays, Mayfield does not seem to be taking as many chances. Instead of throwing into tighter windows that could result in a big play, Mayfield seems to be waiting for one of his receivers to become open.
It is fair to say that there might need to be an adjustment in the play-calling, as Mayfield excels in passing plays that do not take too long to develop. But for Jackson to throw his offensive coordinator under the bus is not good for the confidence of the rookie quarterback.
Next. Hue Jackson says his job is safe. dark
Mayfield has the mentality that could make this a non-issue. But the more people that question Haley could cause Mayfield to lose trust in his play-caller at some point.