Is Baker Mayfield playing for his job against Titans?

The Cleveland Browns are 8-3 this season and well on their way to making the playoffs for the first time since 2002, but Baker Mayfield is not exactly having an outstanding year. If Mayfield struggles against the Tennessee Titans this weekend, one longtime radio host thinks the former first overall pick could lose his job.

Colin Cowherd spent some time on his show Friday talking about what a good matchup the Titans are for Mayfield, as they have a terrible pass rush and have not defended well on third down. Cowherd believes Cleveland’s brass will have a conversation about benching Mayfield if the Browns aren’t at least competitive against Tennessee.

“Everybody now loves Tennessee, but they’re a very flawed football team,” Cowherd said. “The flaws work perfectly for Baker. He’ll have time to throw and a running game that works. (The Browns) will make a decision privately on that flight back or somewhere during the week — if Baker gets rolled like he did against Pittsburgh or Baltimore or manhandled defensively like against the Raiders, they’re moving off of him.”

Like many of Cowherd’s other takes, that seem a bit extreme. It’s true that Mayfield has struggled at times this year. He has just two touchdown passes in Cleveland’s last four games, though he has not thrown an interception during that span and the Browns won three of those contests. Would it really be Case Keenum time if the Browns are blown out by one of the better teams in the AFC and fall to 8-4? We highly doubt it.

Mayfield seemed a bit defensive after the Browns were dominated by the Steelers earlier this year (see what he said), so tensions could run high if the results are similar on Sunday. That doesn’t mean he’s in imminent danger of losing his job.

You can hear Cowherd’s remarks at around the 2:20 mark below:

"The Browns will make a decision privately on the flight back. If Baker gets rolled like he did against Pittsburgh or Baltimore, they're moving off of him." @ColinCowherd on the importance of Sunday's game vs. Tennessee: pic.twitter.com/zBX13W1DbI

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 4, 2020