Baker Mayfield will remain Cleveland Browns starting quarterback

There is no quarterback controversy for the Cleveland Browns

Sunday was a rough day for the Cleveland Browns but no player took a worse beating than quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Browns starting quarterback was 10-of-18 for 119 yards with a touchdown and two picks and ended up on the bench in the fourth quarter.

While his numbers were ugly, the move was not made as a punishment. Instead, it was due to the four sacks and countless hits he was taking on his already injured ribs.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski knew Mayfield was hurting and decided with the game out of reach that it was better for him long-term to go with Keenum to close this one out. He also knows how the NFL works — which is why he quickly dispelled any talk of a quarterback controversy after this game.

Knowing people would want to know if Keenum would take over permanently, Stefanski was quick to say that won’t be the case. He said that not only is Baker the guy when healthy, but that he expects that to be the case in Week 7.

"“Baker will start as long as he’s healthy, and I think he will be,” Stefanski said via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com."

Cleveland saw a four-game winning come to an end at the hands of the Steelers and the way they were beaten was frustrating for the team. However, making a rash move right now would be a knee-jerk reaction.

Having said that, there’s no denying that Mayfield needs to play better. While he was hurt, the injured ribs had nothing to do with him not seeing the safety on the early pick-six from Minkah Fitzpatrick. It also wasn’t the reason for him second-guessing himself.

Again, Mayfield is the guy and should remain as such. But there’s still a lot of work to be done and as hard as it will be for him to watch the tape from Week 6, it could serve as a big teaching tool for him.