CLEVELAND — After a heartbreaking loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield confirmed he will be having surgery to repair his injured shoulder.
Mayfield, who was sacked nine times Monday night, has played through a torn labrum in his left, non-throwing shoulder since Week 2 of the season, making the injury worse when he was hit hard in Week 6.
The quarterback missed just one game with the injury and wore a shoulder harness to limit his range of motion to prevent further injury for the majority of the season.
On Monday after the game against the Steelers, Mayfield confirmed that he plans to undergo surgery to repair the torn labrum in his shoulder.
"I've made the decision, we've had discussions, I am going to have surgery. I am going to get this shoulder fixed, be able to come back next year at 100% so that's been decided," Mayfield said. "Now, when it's happening, that has not been decided."
Mayfield could have the surgery sooner rather than later with one game left on the schedule and the Browns out of playoff contention.
After Monday night's game, Mayfield said he wasn't sure if he would play in the Week 18 game against the Bengals, pointing out that he fought hard through the injury but that it's time for him to focus on his health now.
"I'm a fighter. If anybody every questions how much I want it, just turn on this tape. It wasn't pretty but I kept swinging. That's who I am and that's who I'll continue to be. That's who I've always been," Mayfield said. "Now it's time for me to start looking at what's in the best interest for me and my health. I've continued to lay it out on the line. I haven't been healthy and tried to fight for our guys. Right now, I'm pretty damn beat up to be honest with you. There's no way around it. I gave it everything I had tonight."
Mayfield said that the decision to play next week is something he plans to discuss not just with the team—but with his agent and family.
"It'll be a discussion I have with my agent and my family so I don't have that answer for you right now," Mayfield said.
The game clearly left all of the players and coaches frustrated, but the nine sacks and five batted balls were especially hard on Mayfield who said it was tough to not get the help he needed Monday night.
"You got T.J. Watt over there, and we're not giving our rookie tackle a whole lot of help it's not going to be good for us," Mayfield said.
Hudson, a rookie playing out of position, was faced with the tough challenge of guarding Watt, who is the NFL sack leader and top candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. But Mayfield wanted to make sure the blame wasn't placed on Hudson.
"I'm proud of James, he kept swinging, he kept fighting," Mayfield said of Hudson.
Mayfield ended the postgame press conference taking some blame for the disappointing season, but knows there's a lot for the Browns to address this offseason.
"When it comes to what we've had to deal with all season, there's been a lot of ups and downs. Do I believe I could play better? Absolutely. Do I believe there's positions that we as an offense could have been put in that are better? Absolutely. There's so many critiques throughout the year. If there wasn't we wouldn't be sitting here at 7-9. So it is what it is."
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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