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Hue Jackson will wait until Monday to announce his starting quarterback for the upcoming Cleveland Browns game against the Oakland Raiders.
But it would be surprising if it was not Baker Mayfield.
Tyrod Taylor, who has had three concussions in the past 13 months, remains in the concussion protocol after being injured Thursday night against the Jets. Mayfield, who replaced Taylor, was precise and precise in guiding the Browns to their first victory since December 24, 2016.
Jackson has offered players the weekend off and he does not want to announce his departure without first talking to the players, which will happen Monday.
"I think you all feel good in the right direction," Jackson said Friday, after the Browns hit 500 for the first time since the 2014 season. "Let's wait and see and let's go from there."
Mayfield played in the final two minutes of the second and second half and finished 17-of-23 for 201 yards. His overall QBR of 95.4 was the highest in a game for anyone who had not thrown a touchdown pass (minimum 20 games) in the past five seasons, according to ESPN Stats and Information. He was also the best total QBR for a quarterback Browns since Derek Anderson against Miami in 2007.
"It was as good as I thought I would live," Jackson said. "He made some extraordinary shots, obviously he managed to move the team, played with a rhythm, got the ball in the hands of the playmakers and gave them a chance to play."
Mayfield did it without taking any benchmarks of training with the starters and especially the team of Scouts. His only practice time of the Browns system and games came when Jackson set up extra work for him, but with backups and not starters.
"It's impressive what he did last night, there's no way around that," Jackson said. "It was a short week, not a lot of training time and you would think that it took all the representatives."
Jackson could not even pick a favorite pitch.
"There is too much to talk about," he said.
The return scored only the second time since 2008 that the Browns were down 14 and won; The other was the return of Brian Hoyer from 28-3 to Tennessee in 2014. According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Browns had been 1-72-1 in these games before Thursday night.
Obviously, the feeling of fear that started to settle in the first half was won. But everything changed when Mayfield came in and immediately started throwing darts.
The next two games of the Browns will take place in Oakland without a win and at home against Baltimore (1-1). The team that could not win a match in 2017 can now expect to win relentlessly, which it has not done in 59 games since the 2014 season.
The last quarterback to win a game as a starter for the Browns was Robert Griffin III. He now plays for the Ravens, but that did not stop him from tweeting congratulations to his former team.
For Jackson, victory means that the Browns have the victory they have long desired.
"We are not looking for breaks," Jackson said. "We need breakthroughs, I think last night was a breakthrough."
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