Catching up, Part 2

Today, the defense and Baker Mayfield share the spotlight. . . . 

If the Browns are to become a major player in how close they get to the postseason this season, the defense will have to play a large role. 

The offense will operate with a sizable handicap for the first 11 games, counting heavily on a career backup quarterback to shepherd his side of the football to success until the man they traded a small fortune (and their souls) for is allowed to play again in a regular-season game. Points will come hard this season.

That alone puts pressure on a defense that reacted positively last season to the seemingly daily drama that dragged down the offense to the point where it became almost impossible to win in spite of a Herculean effort to salvage what eventually became an 8-9 campaign.

The best part is practically everyone who either started or significantly contributed returns from a unit that finished strong in the second half after a staggering start. The lone exception is defensive tackle. That will be addressed in a little bit.

Two of the most vital elements of a successful pass defense are firmly in place with a strong and relentless pass rush and one of the deepest secondaries in the National Football League. That cannot be minimized in the pass-happy league.

Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, arguably one of the best quarterback-disturbing tandems in the NFL, rung up 25 sacks and 52 QB hits last season. To bolster the position, General Manager Andrew Berry drafted Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas and traded for New England's Chase Winovich. No worries there.

Joe Woods' biggest problems lies inside at tackle, where inexperience and mediocrity take up residence.  Last season, the defensive coordinator relied heavily on young Malik McDowell and veteran Malik Jackson. McDowell played surprisingly well in his first pro season, but had serious issues off the field in the offseason and was not invited back. Jackson is back out on the street. And that leaves . . . 

Previous draftees Tommy Togiai and Jordan Elliott, free-agent signee Taven Bryan and rookie Perrion Winfrey, who form the room whose main job is to make it difficult for the opposition to run the football. Elliott has booked two below-average seasons, Togiai was so-so at best last season. Bryan was cut by Jacksonville. And Winfrey has yet to back up his boastful nature.

Unless Berry decides changes need to be made, look for Pittsburgh (Najee Harris), Cincinnati (Joe Mixon) and Baltimore (J. K. Dobbins) twice each, along with Carolina (Christian McCaffrey), Los Angeles Chargers (Austin Ekeler), Buffalo (Devin Singletary), New Orleans (Alvin Kamara) and Tampa Bay (Leonard Fournette) to rumble freely this season.

That's 11 of the 17 games in a sport where mastery on the ground generally winds up in victories. History shows football rewards teams that control the ball and bleed time off the clock. 

That makes it almost incumbent for Woods to play the talented linebackers in his 4-2-5 base alignment a little closer to the line of scrimmage to plug running lanes. Anthony Walker Jr., Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Jordan Phillips, who has threatened for two seasons now to bust out, figure to pile up numerous reps  At least two will lead the team in tackling.

Also look for the secondary, where cornerback Martin Emerson Jr, and undrafted safety D'Anthony Bell are the only rookies in the 10-man room, to improve on last season's below-average 13 interceptions. It is stocked with young veterans like corners Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II, safeties John Johnson III and Grant Delpit and depth off the bench from Greedy Williams, Ronnie Harrison Jr., and A.J. Green. 

As it stands now, the Cleveland defense is two experienced tackles away from at least matching last season's group. 

And now, the Further Adventures of Baker Mayfield . . . 

As if the regular-season opener for the Browns down in Carolina a week from Sunday against their former quarterback isn't fascinating and ironic at the same time enough to begin with, he who just couldn't resist had to add even more spice to the game.

Shortly after the Panthers throttled the Buffalo Bills in the final exhibition game of the season last Friday night. Mayfield addressed the Browns game with Cynthia Frelund, an NFL Network analyst doubling as a sideline reporter for the Bills network.

"I'm going to f-ck them up," Frelund said Mayfield told her during the post-game conversation, sharing the incident during an "Around the NFL" podcast a few nights later. She did not use the actual curse word on the air, subbing it with bleep.

"I don't say curse words on air," she said. "I do not want to get into trouble." Too late. She broke the cardinal rule of becoming the story. It went viral and of course immediately became bulletin-board material.

I've been around long enough to know bulletin-board stuff is overrated. Makes a nice angle for a story, but way overrated in the trash-talk era. 

To make matters worse, if that's possible, Mayfield came out and denied everything. "First, I didn't say it," he declared. "Obviously, everyone is going to write whatever story they want. There's history I've played there the last four years.

"I'm an extremely competitive person. Everybody knows that. If I was'n't wanting to win, then there would be a really big issue.with me being the quarterback here. That'll never change. That is not how I phrased it. It's not even what I said."

Believe that? I don't. Of course he said it. Because it sounded like something he would say. It's pure Baker Mayfield after a game when it takes time to wind down. This time, someone tattled on him when he probably believed the conversation was off the record.

No biggie. Numerous stories about the incident will no doubt be written and used as fodder on sports talk shows leading up to the game. It's entertaining. 

That's it. This has become boring.

Next: The Deshaun Watson outcome