Baker Mayfield had to learn ‘the hard way’ to ‘force’ ball to Odell Beckham

One of the ongoing themes of the Cleveland Browns’ season is that they’ve been forced to realize that things did not come together as easily as they perhaps thought they would. Baker Mayfield essentially confirmed one aspect of that on Wednesday.

The Browns quarterback admitted that he had to learn “the hard way” that the ball would essentially have to be forced to Odell Beckham at times, as teams continue to double team him and give him one-on-one looks.

Baker on OBJ having his back and also how they can unlock him more. “We have to find ways to format things to get him the ball and force feed him to where he can make an impact… that’s something we learned the hard way.” pic.twitter.com/aUXdKE7Z1R

— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) November 6, 2019

It’s a glimpse into the fact that a working relationship between a quarterback and wide receiver takes some real work. Given Beckham’s obvious frustration, it’s clearly still a work in progress. He’s still on a 1,000-yard pace, but he’s caught just one touchdown in 2019. Beckham may not constantly have open looks, but the Browns are doing themselves a disservice if they’re not trying to find creative ways to involve him as much as possible.