Will Baker Mayfield be able to start for the Cleveland Browns on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers.
The Cleveland Browns were dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak since last week that left them shorthanded for their Week 15 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Even though Nick Mullens put up an admirable effort, the Raiders won 16-14 on a last-second field goal by Daniel Carlson. The Browns did receive some good news ahead of their game on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers.
On Friday, the Browns announced that they have activated quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum, in addition to wide receiver Jarvis Landry, cornerback A.J. Green and defensive end Ifeadi Odengibo off the reserve/COVID-19 list.
That means Mayfield will be eligible to play on Saturday against the Packers.
Baker Mayfield available to start vs. Packers on Christmas Day
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Mayfield is flying to Green Bay separately from the team.
Mayfield was placed on the COVID-19 list back on Dec. 15. Due to the outbreak on the Browns, the NFL had to postpone the game from Saturday, Dec. 18 to Monday, Dec. 20.
As mentioned earlier, the Browns started Mullens in Cleveland against the Raiders. Mullen completed 20-of-30 pass attempts for 147 yards and one touchdown. That score came late in the fourth quarter, where he hit tight end Harrison Bryant in the end zone to give Cleveland the 14-13 lead.
This season, Mayfield threw for 2,603 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 62.8-percent of his passes in 12 games.
Cleveland is 7-7 and sit just outside of the playoff picture entering Week 16. They do face a Packers team that did just clinch the NFC North title last week, but also nearly lost to the Baltimore Ravens and backup quarterback Tyler Huntley.
The Browns will look to pull off the huge upset over the Packers in hopes of climbing back up the conference standings.