Cleveland Browns: Hue Jackson says Baker Mayfield has to ‘clear the air’

Baker Mayfield and other Cleveland Browns have voiced their displeasure about Hue Jackson, but the former head coach said Mayfield has to “clear the air.”

There is no doubt that Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield was not a fan of former head coach Hue Jackson, especially after Jackson joined the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff only two weeks after being fired by the Browns.

In a recent ESPN feature, Mayfield said he wanted to get revenge when the Browns first played the Bengals in 2018 because of Jackson’s presence on the Cincinnati sidelines.

Following a stellar performance by Mayfield and the rest of the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield had an awkward exchange with Jackson on the field. The 24-year-old quarterback then said he did not like Jackson joining a division rival so soon after being fired, calling his former coach “fake.”

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But even with Mayfield’s public disapproval of Jackson, as well as David Njoku voicing his opinion of Jackson, the former Browns head coach does not feel like it his responsibility to fix the problem with his former players, which he doesn’t understand why there even is a problem.

In an interview with Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio on Tuesday night, Jackson said that if Mayfield still has any issues with his former head coach, it is up to the quarterback to “clear the air” between the two.

"“I think it would be for him to clear the air,” Jackson told Zach Gelb, who was filling in as host of After Hours with Amy Lawrence. “I’ve been coaching in this league a long time and coached a lot of players, a lot of quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, offensive line. I’ve never had anybody say that about me or feel that way about me…So again, if there was something I said or something I did, I think he knows that I try to come from a good place. Nobody’s perfect, but there was nothing that I know that I did to him that would have made him feel the way he did.” – Hue Jackson via CBS Sports Radio"

Mayfield’s distaste towards Jackson could date back to the start of training camp as Jackson made it clear that Tyrod Taylor would be the team’s starting quarterback and there would be no competition. With Mayfield’s competitive nature, not even having a slight chance to be the team’s starting quarterback likely rubbed him the wrong way.

Jackson stated in his interview with Gelb that he believed Mayfield would become the team’s starting quarterback at some point. He said that he could have named Taylor the starter after Mayfield’s first appearance against the New York Jets, but Jackson knew it was Mayfield’s time. But following the Jets game, Jackson infamously said he needed to “watch the tape” before naming who would be the starting quarterback.

It is obvious Jackson does not feel like he did nothing wrong to Mayfield and is not responsible for the issues between the two. As much as Mayfield has discussed his dislike of Jackson, it is hard to imagine Mayfield will “clear the air” with his former head coach.