The Cleveland Browns can’t move on quickly enough from their 34-10 whooping at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. Things don’t get much easier in Week 2 as they remain in Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who of course will be out for blood with former Browns No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield leading the way in hopes to avoid an 0-2 start.
Mayfield is a well-documented grudge holder and did not leave the Browns on good terms after the front office unceremoniously dumped him on the Carolina Panthers so they could pounce on the opportunity to trade multiple first-round picks for Deshaun Watson and give him a fully guaranteed $230 million. Obviously, that decision hasn’t gone great for the Browns, but that whole situation predates the hiring of new head coach Todd Monken, who gave his two cents on the ordeal on Wednesday.
Mayfield facing his former team is going to be a hot discussion topic heading into Sunday’s battle, but Monken brushed it off on Wednesday. He feels no ill will towards Mayfield and credited him for being competitive and wanting to beat everybody anyway.
“I don’t get into how a person feels. I don’t blame him just like he could never blame me the way I feel about certain things…he’s so competitive. He wants to beat everybody he plays,” said Monken.
"I don't get into how a person feels. I don't blame him just like he could never blame me the way I feel about certain things…he's so competitive. He wants to beat everybody he plays." #Browns head coach Todd Monken on Baker Mayfield holding a grudge toward the organization pic.twitter.com/kUvb3ES8Go
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) September 16, 2026
Mayfield was asked about this on Wednesday as well and he said he focuses more on remembering the good times as opposed to the bad ones. It has been years since the divorce and Mayfield’s grudges are usually more personal, so it’s great to see him in a good place mentally, especially after the Bucs recently gave him a three-year extension.
Mayfield also probably relishes in the fact that the Browns have crashed and burned since trading him. The Watson deal couldn’t have gone worse, so Mayfield doesn’t need to hold a grudge. He knows that the past five years of Browns football have been vindicating for him and still being on the hook for all Watson’s money is punishment enough.
It would be fitting for Mayfield to stick it to this team one more time and win the game that winds up pushing the Browns to bench Watson once and for all. It would be a nice feather in his cap, so we’ll see if Monken’s squad has enough fight in them to prevent that from happening.
NEXT: Deshaun Watson Is Not Happy With The Expectations Of Him
