Baker Mayfield isn’t campaigning for Lincoln Riley. from zhangzk's blog

BEREA Brian Burns Jersey , Ohio (AP) —The rookie quarterback isn’t dismissing the possibility his former coach joins him in Cleveland either.Mayfield said Wednesday that he believes Riley is prepared to move from Oklahoma into the NFL, but he would also understand if the 35-year-old wants to remain at one of college football’s most successful programs.“Lincoln’s been ready, it’s just who he is and how he coaches and the respect level he’s had from all of his players, how detailed he is,” Mayfield said. “Yeah, he’s ready but that’s his decision and you know what, he’s got something special there, so I don’t think anybody is going to blame him if he stays there for the next 20 years.”Riley has been linked as a possible candidate to be Cleveland’s next coach because of his obvious connection with Mayfield, who won the Heisman Trophy last season in Riley’s first year at the Big 12 power.Mayfield was asked directly if he wants Riley to come to Cleveland.“I have a relationship with Lincoln,” Mayfield. “He’s been great and we had success, but whatever decision is made here I’m going to make the most of it. Obviously, there’s been a level of comfort with him in the past that I’ve had. But whatever happens, happens. And you know what, you can’t control that so I’m not going to worry about it.”Mayfield also doesn’t know if Riley is itching to go pro.“I think down the road probably,” he said. “Right now I’m not going to speak for him Greg Little Jersey , but he’s ready whenever that time comes.”The Browns fired Hue Jackson in October, and general manager John Dorsey is in the early stages of a coaching search that will accelerate once the season ends. Interim coach Gregg Williams will interview for the job, and it’s likely that Dorsey will meet with former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, who was dismissed after Sunday’s loss to Arizona.Dorsey and McCarthy worked together in Green Bay.Riley’s appeal to the Browns could stretch beyond his strong ties to Mayfield. He’s regarded as one of the game’s best offensive minds, and Mayfield has little doubt Riley has the right attributes to lead professional players.“After being here, it’s about respect,” Mayfield said. “You get a locker room full of guys that are making a lot of money, obviously the egos are going to be there. You have to have the respect in guys. You have to be able to get the best out of them even when they’re going to get paid regardless. So you’ve got to be able to get the most out of them and demand it, just by respect and so when it comes down to it, that’s why I would say he’s a great coach.”Mayfield said his admiration for Riley extends way outside his ability to diagram a play or devise a game plan.“Some of those coaches that are so successful, they have the standard and they live by — that standard every day,” Mayfield said. “He does it with football, family and he’s just a great human being. He wants the best for everybody and he’s always encouraging. He will wrap his arm around somebody, talk to them and help them out no matter what it is.”Riley, who is 24-3 in two seasons with the Sooners Will Grier Jersey , has downplayed any interest in leaving Oklahoma, which signed him to a five-year, $25 million contract last summer. After Jackson was fired, Riley anticipated questions about going to Cleveland.“The truth for me is, I love Oklahoma,” he said. “I love coaching here. I love college football. I certainly don’t have that itch right now. I don’t know if I ever will.”That won’t stop the speculation about Riley, which has been fueled by Dorsey’s appearance at Oklahoma’s past two games.Mayfield said Dorsey is close with Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, and joked that he’s not putting any more into the visits.“I’ve definitely known about it,” Mayfield said. “He’s given me a hard time, but he’s gone and there’s been two wins. That’s all I know. Who knows what he’s doing down there.”NOTES: Browns practice squad DL Daniel Ekuale was suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancers. His suspension begins immediately. … Mayfield said his Heisman Trophy sits on his parent’s dining room table at home and his dad “uses it as a paper holder and he tips his coffee to it every morning.” EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Dalvin Cook took the first-down handoff for Minnesota, sized up the blocking at the line and veered hard to his left.Miami cornerback Bobby McCain had the angle on him, but Cook won the race to the edge and accelerated up the sideline to reach the end zone untouched for the Vikings on their merry way to a 41-17 victory over the Dolphins .That 13-yard touchdown run during a 21-point first quarter was a fitting snapshot of a performance by the offense that was as smooth as it’s been all season. That play was called to the same side of the field six days earlier in a 21-7 loss at Seattle, when the Vikings were as flat as they’ve been all year in trying to move the ball.Against the Seahawks, naturally Christian Miller Jersey , the unblocked cornerback tackled Cook for a short gain. Quarterback Kirk Cousins promised Cook on the sideline that night the next time he had the opportunity he’d beat the defender to the perimeter and turn it into a big play.Sure enough, that’s what transpired against the Dolphins, when Cousins looked at Cook in the huddle and said simply, “Make him miss.”The margin between winning and losing in the NFL can be so slim that sometimes for no significant reason a play can be thwarted one week and thrive the next. Cousins has been vocal since the change about his insistence that the struggles were not a product of bad play calls but rather the fault of the players.“We’ve got to make the coaches right,” Cousins said.Still, there was a clear boost the Vikings gained from a fresh start under interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski after the firing of John DeFilippo . The shift in venue to another capacity crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium was the biggest help, and facing a Dolphins defense with many deficiencies instead of the Seahawks was a welcomed alternative.With Stefanski calling the plays on Sunday for the first time, there was a concerted effort to follow a streamlined, simplified game plan after the Vikings were held under 285 total yards in Seattle for the fourth time in a five-game stretch. They called 40 runs to 23 passes, by far their biggest favor of the ground game of the season.Coach Mike Zimmer, who’d been critical of DeFilippo last month for what he termed “too much volume” in the playbook from week to week, saw some negative effect that had on Cousins. He told his quarterback last week to remember what playing in the backyard in seventh grade felt like.“You don’t run plays. You just play the game,” Zimmer said. “I think that’s what he needs to do, just play the game and let it unfold.”Stefanski simply used more players, too. Fullback C.J. Ham had 18 snaps Jordan Scarlett Jersey , and backup tight ends David Morgan and Tyler Conklin had 23 snaps apiece. Ham and Morgan, who returned from a four-game absence because of a knee injury, had the key blocks to give Cook his chance to beat the cornerback one-on-one on his first touchdown.The offensive linemen, too, were at their best in a season that has been a struggle at times for the Vikings up front. Zimmer made the players report for meetings on Monday instead of the typical day off after a late-in-the-year victory, citing a desire to give the offensive linemen an opportunity to enjoy reviewing their performance.“What we are able of accomplishing when we do the right things,” Zimmer said.The bigger-picture reason, of course, to stay at work is the NFC wild-card race. Philadelphia and Washington both won to stay on the heels of the Vikings (7-6-1), who could clinch their spot as soon as next weekend, but could also find themselves eliminated if they don’t win their final two games. Keeping that rushing attack going will go a long way toward avoiding that fate.“These guys believe in me 100 percent, and I believe in them 100 percent,” Cook said of his blockers. “So when you’ve got a group like that, it’s a number of positive outcomes. We know what we can do.”