What happened to Baker Mayfield How Panthers QBs season unraveled after trade from Browns
What happened to Baker Mayfield How Panthers QBs season unraveled after trade from Browns
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For the third consecutive offseason, the Panthers were hopeful that a new addition at quarterback would fix the problem that they had at the position. Once again, things haven't gone as planned for Carolina. This time, it was with the Baker Mayfield redemption tour. The Panthers acquired Mayfield in exchange for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick on July 6. Carolina had struck out on its other quarterback targets, namely Deshaun Watson, so they settled on Mayfield as their competition for Sam Darnold. Some hoped that Mayfield would regain the form he showed during his breakout 2020 season with the Browns. Instead, he has proven that injuries were not his No. 1 concern during his 2021 struggles, and they have followed him to a new team. And as a result, Mayfield finds himself holding the clipboard and hoping that he gets one more chance to prove himself. So, what happened to Baker Mayfield? Here's how everything went wrong for him in Carolina in a span of just four months. MORE: Mayfield began the season as the starter for the Panthers, but things didn't go very well for him. Mayfield performed poorly to start the season. He led his team to a 1-4 record in its first five games and struggled to get on the same page as his receivers in Matt Rhule's offense. Then, in the team's 37-15 lo s against the 49ers, Mayfield suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for a couple of weeks. When Mayfield returned to action in Week 8, it was as Carolina's backup quarterback. He remains the teams backup at the midpoint of the season. The injury that initially sidelined Mayfield was a high-ankle sprain. The injury occurred in the Panthers' Week 5 lo s David Njoku Jersey to the 49ers and he was spotted wearing a walking boot after that contest. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Mayfield as a result of the injury. However, NFL Network's Tom Peli sero quickly reported that Mayfield wouldn't need surgery and that the Panthers at least not immediately. Since players placed on IR are required to mi s four games, it seemed like Mayfield would have a shot to return within a three-week timeline. Indeed, he did, as he mi sed two games before returning to action in Week 8. However, though Mayfield was healthy, he wasn't put back into the starting job. He was benched in favor of PJ Walker, who had opened the season as his backup. (Getty Images) Originally, Mayfield was sidelined as a result of the ankle injury, but that opened the door for Walker to make an impre sion on the Panthers. And in his first two starts, he certainly did. The Panthers enjoyed better offensive succe s with Walker under center than Mayfield in his first couple of starts. Notably, Walker helped lead the Panthers to a shocking upset win over the Buccaneers. They won that contest 21-3 and after it, interim coach Steve Wilks announced that Walker would continue to start. Why? Because he had "earned it," per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. interim coach Steve Wilks tells reporters that QB P.J. Walker will start Sunday even if the others are healthy. He has earned it. Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) Mayfield did, in fact, get healthy ahead of Week 8, just after Wilks had announced that Walker would remain the starter. As such, Mayfield became his backup and has dre sed in that role each of the last two weeks. So, effectively, Mayfield was first sidelined because of an injury but was then benched for his performance. And when looking at his stats, Wilks NFL Cleveland Browns Jersey ' decision to bench Mayfield was a reasonable one. NFL POWER RANKINGS: At the time of his ankle injury, Mayfield had been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. He struggled badly with his accuracy and simply wasn't completing enough pa ses to get the Panthers' offense into a rhythm. That said, Mayfield looked slightly better when he played in relief of PJ Walker in the second half of Carolina's Week 9 game against the Bengals. So, perhaps he has made some progre s. Even still, when factoring in those positive numbers, Mayfield still grades out as one of the worst pa sers in the NFL.Below is a breakdown of his rate stats and where they rank among 34 qualified quarterbacks (unle s otherwise specified) acro s the NFL. Stat Total League rank Comp. % 56.6 Last Yards/attempt 6.5 24th TD % 3.5 21st INT % 2.3 T-21st Pa ser rating 78.1 30th QBR 16.9 Last PFF Grade 51.9 37th of 39 Again, it's easy to see why the Panthers opted to bench Mayfield after his early Baker Mayfield Jersey season struggles. That said, some were surprised that he didn't get another crack at the starting job Thursday night given Walker's poor performance and benching in Week 9. MORE: Walker had one of the worst performances by a quarterback in the NFL this season during Carolina's Week 9 lo s to Cincinnati. He completed just 3 of 10 pa ses for 9 yards and threw two interceptions. It was good for a pa ser rating of zero, and . Mayfield fared better than Walker in that contest, not just by default. He to sed two touchdowns and avoided turnovers entirely during the contest. So, why is Walker getting the start over Mayfield in Week 10? Wilks explained that he didn't want to overreact to one performance in his decision. "We all have bad games. PJ wasn't the only one," the interim coach said, per . "I could bench everybody if we go off bad games, so we're going to rally behind PJ and definitely give him the things that he needs from a game plan standpoint." Wilks also noted that the short week and Walker's succe s against Atlanta in Week 8 made the decision easier on him. "I just felt like in the short week, just giving him the opportunity to go back with the game plan, what we're going to put together, what he did against Atlanta before," Wilks said. "Hopefully, we can get a spark out of the offense." So, Walker will get another chance to prove himself. But if he struggles again, Mayfield will be waiting in the wings ready to take advantage of another opportunity.
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