AFC North Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

Browns QB Baker Mayfield says he’s ready to sit and learn from Tyrod Taylor before getting his chance to lead the team.

“I know exactly what they said and I absolutely respect that,” Mayfield told reporters Thursday, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “That’s a veteran that’s been in the league. He’s a guy that I could sit behind and learn from.”

Mayfield said previously that he wouldn’t “settle for a backup” role, but he explained that this was just him being competitive.

“For me, when I say those type of things, it’s because I’m competitive,” Mayfield said. “If I came in with the mindset of just being happy I got drafted and just to settle for a backup job, that wouldn’t be myself. I’m going to come in with the mindset to compete but also with the hunger to learn from a guy that’s been in the league, that’s seen things that I haven’t seen. I’ve said multiple times that the best thing to happen to me throughout this process at Oklahoma was sitting for the year after I transferred.”

Ravens

Despite trading back into the first round for Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, Ravens HC John Harbaugh made it clear that Joe Flacco is still their starting quarterback.

“Joe Flacco is our quarterback,” Harbaugh said, via BaltimoreRavens.com. “Lamar is going to have a great chance to develop. I think you get to this stage in a quarterback’s career – you’ve seen it done in New England, we’ve seen it done in a lot of places – it’s time to start thinking about drafting a quarterback. When the opportunity came to get a really good one, I think you have to jump on it and take it. This really doesn’t change things in a sense that we’re going to go with Joe, and Joe’s going to roll. I can’t wait for the season to start. But when you add a talented player like this who can come in and play if he needs to, and win for us, that’s a big plus.”

“The big thing is he’s a quarterback, and that’s the first thing to remember,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a quarterback through and through, and he’s a playmaker. When you look at stats and you evaluate him, he does all the things that any quarterback does. But we do some analytics, and when the ball is in his hands, there hadn’t been a better playmaker, really, in the last few years coming out [of the draft]. He’s a great quarterback – start with that.”

Steelers

• Cameron Wolfe hears that the Steelers were looking to trade up for Alabama LB Rashaan Evans before the Titans traded up to No. 22 overall for him.