Report: Browns Veterans Approached Baker Mayfield Over Duke Johnson Comments

Browns RB Duke Johnson requested a trade in April.

Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield was reportedly approached by several veteran Browns players in the locker room who expressed their displeasure after the signal-caller made critical comments of running back Duke Johnson, according to NFL Network's Michael Silver.

Per Silver, Mayfield and the Browns veterans "hashed out their differences" during the discussion.

Earlier this month, Mayfield made remarks at Johnson, who requested a trade from the Browns after they signed former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt.

"[The situation surrounding Johnson is] not awkward," Mayfield told reporters. "No. It's self-inflicted. It is what it is. That's not awkward for anybody else in this building. He's got to do his job. He said he's a professional, I hope he does his job."

Johnson, 25, is entering his fifth NFL season. The Browns selected the Miami (Fla.) product in the third round of the 2015 draft.

Last season, Johnson set career-lows in rushing yards (201), attempts (40), receptions (47) and receiving yards (429), as then-rookie tailback Nick Chubb emerged as Cleveland's top option out of the backfield.

The Browns signed Hunt to a one-year deal months after Kansas City released him shortly after a video emerged of him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel in February 2018. Hunt, the league's 2017 rushing leader, will miss the first eight games of the 2019 season after being placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List.