D.J. Moore throws subtle shade at Baker Mayfield in recent interview

Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers offense are having the exact same issues the Cleveland Browns did during the 2021 campaign

2021 was an incredibly long season for Cleveland Browns fans as blame was being passed between receivers such as Odell Beckham, Jr. and Jarvis Landry to quarterback Baker Mayfield.

All year, the offense struggled to find any sort of consistency, and while Mayfield defenders constantly said the wideouts needed to help him and get open, video evidence showed they were open — just not getting the ball.

It all culminated in OBJ’s dad posting a video on social media of his son running wide open and never seeing the ball, which led to his release. After Beckham joined the Los Angeles Rams, he took off — but there were still believers in Mayfield despite the struggles continuing.

Fast forward to 2022 and Cleveland has turned the page while Mayfield is in Carolina, and having the exact same problems. On Thursday, wide receiver D.J. Moore was asked about head coach Matt Rhule saying the wideouts needed to help Mayfield by getting open (sounds so familiar) and his response was telling and he may have thrown a little shade at Mayfield while answering.

Not only was it pointed out by reporters that Moore has been open for his entire career, but he seemed to say that the quarterback doesn’t see a player being open as them actually being open.

Baker Mayfield could be in danger

Moore is no stranger to subpar quarterback play. Over the past couple of seasons, he’s worked with Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker, Cam Newton (not the Cam Newton from 2015 either), and Sam Darnold. With those players, he’s put up at least 1,100 yards and has never gone for fewer than 788 in a season — which he did as a rookie.

Now with Mayfield throwing him the ball, he’s trending in the wrong direction. Moore has just seven receptions for 88 yards with a single touchdown. If this pace was maintained all season, he would have 40 receptions for 499 yards which would both be career lows.

To his credit, Moore tried his best not to say anything degrading and it was a tough spot to be put in since his coach was the one to call out the wide receivers. But for anyone who watched the way things fell apart in Cleveland, it’s hard not to feel some déjà vu.

It’s also hard to figure out how Rhule would call out Moore, who has had success for years. But then again, we all went through this same exact thing and saw the blame being placed on the player who had no defenders within five yards, going as far as to accuse the wideouts of “freelancing.”. Thankfully this time, we can just watch from afar and be glad it’s not going on in Berea.