When the Carolina Panthers traded for former Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield during the offseason, many assumed that he would be the new starter in Carolina and ultimately Mayfield the starter over veteran Sam Darnold during the offseason. Mayfield lost his starting job to P.J. Walker when he was sidelined by an ankle injury and even though Mayfield is now healthy, the team is still riding with Walker as the starting quarterback – but apparently, it’s not because Mayfield has failed.
When asked about Baker Mayfield‘s struggles this season, Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo got pretty defensive of the quarterback, insisting that Mayfield simply got injured.
“Baker has not failed. Baker got injured. . . . I think Baker’s a tremendous leader for us,” McAdoo said at a press conference, according to Pro Football Talk. “He had moments of playing well before the injury. He had a rough game the game getting injured, but that doesn’t mean it’s a failure. We still have a lot of football left to play.”
These comments are perplexing because an injury is not keeping Mayfield off the field currently. Instead, he’s not out of the starting lineup due to a coach’s decision. Instead of Mayfield, the team is going with a quarterback who threw for just one more completion than interception in his last start. That doesn’t seem like a strong endorsement for Mayfield.
