Kevin Stefanski supports Baker Mayfield but won’t…

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The Browns are saying all the things they have to say about Baker Mayfield in early March. Coach Kevin Stefanski answered with a simple “yes” Wednesday when asked whether he still has full confidence in Mayfield as the starter in 2022.

It reiterated what General Manager Andrew Berry said a day earlier about “fully” expecting Mayfield to return as the Browns’ starter.

But both left open the possibility of adding competition at the position.

“I think every day those guys understand that it’s a challenge,” Stefanski said, via Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal. “In terms of the room and those types of things, I’m not going to get into that necessarily. But I think Baker, all of our players understand that it’s a competition. You’re getting challenged every single day. They treat every day like a challenge, so I’m comfortable with how that goes.

“But how the rest of the offseason goes, I think we’ll see.”

Mayfield tore the labrum in his left shoulder in Week 2 but played through it with the help of a harness. He underwent surgery Jan. 19. He had the fewest passing yards (3,010), the fewest touchdowns (17) and the lowest passer rating (83.1) in his career, but Stefanski wouldn’t use the shoulder as an excuse.

The coach did acknowledge opponents took away the rollouts that made Mayfield effective in 2020.

“It was not the shoulder. We were not limited in what we were doing with Baker as he worked through the injuries,” Stefanski said.

The Browns could open the competition to veteran backup Case Keenum, but Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports a $1 million roster bonus due March 19 could impact their decision on Keenum. He has a cap hit of $8.43 million in 2022.

If the Browns don’t sign a quarterback such as Mitchell Trubisky to challenge Mayfield, they could bring back Keenum at $8.43 million, Cabot reports.