Baker Mayfield is 'Locked In' Ahead of Matchup vs Former Team
When Baker Mayfield takes the field at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, he'll be locked in. All of the hype surrounding this team and this game for that matter goes out the window. The good thing is Mayfield has been in this situation before and knows how to handle it.
He walked on at Texas Tech and after a decent freshman campaign throwing for 2,315 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, Mayfield made the move to Oklahoma. In his first game against his former school, Mayfield completed 15-of-22 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 63-27 victory. The next year? He outdueled Patrick Mahomes tossing for 545 yards and seven touchdowns in a 66-59 win. He would go on to win all three games against the Red Raiders, two of which were pretty one-sided.
Baker getting a crack against the team that gave up on him right out of the gate is great entertainment. The thing is, he's not looking at it as a revenge game although he openly admitted this one means a little more.
"I'm grateful for the time I had in Cleveland. It ended abruptly and unexpectedly but we're here now. Everything happens for a reason and I'm rolling with the punches and I'm happy to be a Panther," Mayfield said. "Like I mentioned last week, I think it's a great storyline. Obviously, there's history involved. Leading up to this week there's other games in the NFL that [have] guys playing their former teams. It's the excitement leading up to Week 1 that I think is building that anticipation up. For me, anytime you're playing guys you know it makes it more interesting, more fun. You get to smack talk a little bit with your buddies that you've been with for a little bit. I'm just looking forward to the opportunity.
Both head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo have been pleased with how Mayfield has handled himself this week in preparation for the game.
"Baker's a pro. He's been in the league a while now," McAdoo said. "He's gone through a lot in the league and he's gone through a lot in the college game. Conversations with Baker is just let's just focus on the particulars of preparing to play a game. We all understand this is a professional environment, not a personal environment. We'll attack it that way and he's been tremendous during the week."
"I haven't seen anything that says I'm going to let my emotions get the best of me," Rhule said of Mayfield's mindset. "He's locked in and in the moment. I think everybody that's here understands the standards for how we want to be. At the end of the day it's never about you, it's never about me. It's always about us. It's always about the team. It's always about winning. Baker, to me, embodies that."
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