Baker Mayfield talks return to QB1 spot. Panthers have plan for ailing secondary
Baker Mayfield isn’t thinking beyond Sunday’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
The newly minted starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers just wants to win as he makes his first NFL start since the home loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5.
“It’s pretty important to win, considering we’re still in the division race right now,” Mayfield said. “That’s where I’m at. Not worried about everything else. It’ll take care of itself, as long as I do my job and see where it goes.”
The dynamic on offense has changed quite a bit since Mayfield’s last start, as former head coach Matt Rhule is no longer in charge and workhorse running back Christian McCaffrey is now in San Francisco.
Mayfield has seen the shift on offense from the sideline, and he thinks the new style could help him improve over his forgettable first five games under center.
“It’s a very different situation with some faces not being here anymore,” Mayfield said. “And that’s not being shady or anything, it’s just different. A lot of guys are finding their roles and have stepped up in a big way, so we just kind of found our identity as time has gone on and I’m just looking forward to it.”
Mayfield sustained a high ankle sprain against the 49ers and missed two games. When he returned, Mayfield backed up PJ Walker, who went 2-3 to start Steve Wilks’ tenure as interim head coach.
Walker sustained a high ankle sprain of his own in last week’s win against the Atlanta Falcons. On Monday, Mayfield was named the starter against the Ravens.
“I didn’t know how severe (Walker’s injury) was, to be honest with you — just by the way he finished the game and how he played,” Mayfield said. “So it kind of caught me off-guard, just hearing that news. But it was just a simple conversation of, you know, getting back in there and the situation it’s going to be.”
Having played the Ravens eight times during the first four years of his career with the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield is familiar with Baltimore’s personnel. And despite a change at defensive coordinator, Mayfield still has a familiarity with the defense’s design as well.
“I think the foundation of what they run is essentially the same,” Mayfield said. “Not as exotic as when (former defensive coordinator) Wink Martindale was calling blitzes and stuff like that. But it comes down to their players, it always has. They have great players on defense — they’re stout, they’re tough — and yeah, playing them twice a year was always a challenge. So, I’ve seen a bunch of those guys. They’re a talented group, they play hard and they’re a smart veteran group — they’ve seen a lot of ball.”
Mayfield led the Panthers’ offense in practice Wednesday with Sam Darnold as his backup. Wilks was happy with Mayfield’s work with the first team to begin the week.
“I thought he did well today,” Wilks said. “It was nothing over the top.”
Despite Mayfield’s status as the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game, Darnold could still see playing time against Baltimore.
While Wilks hedged on any hypotheticals against the Ravens, he did admit that he’d like to see Darnold get some game action before possibly being asked to take over the starting job down the road.
“I think it’s trying to pick and choose the flow of the game,” Wilks said. “It’s something I mentioned to those guys the other day with Baker. If it happens, just giving him a warning that, ‘I’m not pulling you, I just want to get Sam some opportunities.’ Because the first time that he goes in there (as a starter), I don’t want it to be the first time. I want to be able to get him acclimated a little bit to the speed of the game.
“As I’ve mentioned before, he hasn’t really played live since last year.”
Replacing Donte Jackson by committee
The Panthers placed starting cornerback Donte Jackson on the injured reserve list with a torn Achilles on Monday. In a corresponding move, the team signed veteran cornerback T.J. Carrie to the practice squad on Tuesday.
Carrie played for Wilks during the 2019 season when the interim head coach served as the Browns’ defensive coordinator. Interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb was the Browns’ linebackers coach that season.
“Smart player,” Wilks said of Carrie. “Can play inside as well as outside. I feel like he can pick up things quickly if we need him this week.”
With Jackson out of the mix, the Panthers have four cornerbacks on their 53-man roster: Jaycee Horn, C.J. Henderson, Keith Taylor and Tae Hayes.
Horn and Henderson will start, while Taylor will likely back up both outside corner spots and Hayes serves as a nickel option.
Safety Jeremy Chinn — who had his 21-day practice window activated on injured reserve last week — could return to the 53-man roster ahead of the matchup against the Ravens.
If that were to happen, Chinn and Xavier Woods would start at safety and fill-in free safety Myles Hartsfield would probably move back to nickel cornerback.
Chinn (hamstring) and Hartsfield (ankle), though, had unclear injury statuses heading into the week.
“Depth is always a plus, but also when you have quality players like (Chinn and Hartsfield), hopefully they’re ready to go,” Wilks said. “Donte is definitely going to be missed. He’s a leader in that room as well as the locker room — but guys need to step up.”
The Panthers will clearly replace Jackson by committee, but the potential return of Chinn will at least help them mitigate the talent drop-off in the secondary.
Hartsfield has been one of the biggest surprises in the secondary this season, and moving him back to his natural nickel position could help the Panthers against the Ravens and beyond.
More injury updates
The Panthers practiced without six players, including Walker, on Wednesday.
Hartsfield (ankle) and fellow safety Juston Burris (illness), defensive tackles Matt Ioannidis (calf) and Daviyon Nixon (illness) and linebacker Frankie Luvu (illness) joined Walker on the sideline.
Tight end Giovanni Ricci (neck), right tackle Taylor Moton (elbow) and cornerback Jaycee Horn (foot) were limited participants in the workout.
Wideout Rashard Higgins, who missed the past two games with an illness, was not listed on the initial injury report of the week.
Chinn, who is still on injured reserve, practiced Wednesday but didn’t receive a status because of his placement on the inactive list.
This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 5:07 PM.
