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It was only an exhibition, right?

If the Browns’ performance in the dress rehearsal game for the 2019 National Football League season Friday night is any indication, it’s going to be a very long season.

The 13-12 exhibition loss to the Buccaneers in Tampa on a last-minute field goal, if nothing else, proved Baker Mayfield is nowhere ready to face the real bullets come Sept. 8 at home against the Tennessee Titans.

Looking nothing like the quarterback who put up numbers last season as no rookie had in a very long time, he had problems the entire time with his timing.  On at least half his throws, he badly missed his target.

This was not the cocksure, swaggering quarterback of the surprising 2018 season. The confidence was just not there. Fans used to seeing clutch throw after clutch throw had to be stunned as just how bad he looked.

Thanks to a sizzling defense that recorded five sacks – it finished with seven overall and a dozen quarterback hits – and rookie kicker Austin Seibert, who booted three field goals (he added a fourth later), the Browns took a 9-0 lead at the half.

The twos and threes took over on defense in the second half, but the starting offensive line played well into the third quarter after Drew Stanton replaced Mayfield at the start of the third quarter.

The offense overall was truly offensive. Mayfield looked as though he spent the first 30 minutes just knocking off the rust he had accumulated after playing just one series – the first in the opener – in the first two exhibitions.

Sharpening his timing in training camp is one thing against teammates. It’s quite another, in fact it’s not even close, to doing the same against live action. And the Bucs exposed him in front of a national television (NFL Network) audience..

Cause for concern? Considering how erratically Mayfield threw the football while playing the entire first half, sure. Why? Because he will not play in the most meaningless game of the season next week at home against Detroit. That’s why.

The least dangerous quarterback on the field Friday night will enter the home opener with 15 completions in 32 attempts for 149 yards, a touchdown and an interception after a 10-for-26 stinker against the Bucs for 72 yards and the pick.

The Cleveland offense just about everyone around the NFL can’t wait to see this season ran 31 pays in the first 30 minutes and put up 75 total yards. Sure it was vanilla stuff compared to what it will look like later. But the simplest offense was not executed properly.

Perhaps it was because Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr and David Njoku, four big bullets in Mayfield’s gun belt, were mere spectators. Yeah, that must be it. They’ll sit out the exhibition finale, too.

Why coach Freddie Kitchens chose to keep those bullets on the sidelines is puzzling. His quarterback needs them every bit as much as they need him. It might have been an unfair fight had they played.

Which means the vaunted Cleveland offense will enter the 2019 season lid lifter with its most important contributors on offense seeing scant time – none for a few of them – and the coaching staff expecting them to hum like a well-oiled machine.

Chubb has logged just one carry for 13 yards and caught a lone pass for 14 more. Landry, Beckham and Njoku have suited up, but have yet to play. And they won’t against Detroit. That’s the game that will help shape the bottom of the roster.

Mayfield’s usual laser-like throws missed the mark at times by wide margins. Working mainly with wide receivers Rashard Higgins and Derrick Willies, who were targeted on half of his throws, he was often forced to seek second and third choices, several times checking down to running back D’Ernest Johnson.

The run game, for whatever reason, was totally disdained. Only five carries for Kareem Hunt in the first 30 minutes. It seemed as though the offense against the Bucs was designed to get Mayfield as much work as possible. No other reason for the huge pass-run disparity.

The only positive aspects of this dress rehearsal fans can hang on to are the starting defense, which manhandled a decent Buccaneers offense. And Siebert, who all but nailed the kicking job with his perfect night, which included a 54-yarder.

Each boot sailed squarely between the uprights, which is what Kitchens said pleases him the most. It was the only part of the offense that (maybe) delighted him.

On the other hand, the Cleveland head coach, who calls all the plays, faces a mountain of work to get his offense ready for the Titans.

Mayfield likes challenges. Inspires him to play better. And his awful performance Friday night definitely gave him ample reason to treat his next appearance in the opener as a challenge.

Was this latest loss, a game that was eagerly looked forward to, an aberration? Sort of a don’t worry, this is not who we are? We’ll get this fixed. Chill.

Maybe.

It also very well could serve as a warning shot that preparing for the regular season might have to be dealt with a little differently next season.

Some guys need to sniff the aroma of a real game, not games you play against your teammates in practice, to better prepare themselves for when the games become much more meaningful. Based on what we saw Friday night, Mayfield might be one of those.

Bottom line: The defense is ready. Perhaps even more than ready. The offense . . . well that appears to be in the work-in-progress stage.