Heading into the NFL season, the Cleveland Browns were pegged by many as the AFC North’s most talented team. But through the first three weeks of the season, the Baltimore Ravens — led by Lamar Jackson — appear to be several steps above the rest of the division.
And really, it was difficult to ignore the hype around the Browns — even head coach John Harbaugh was buying it. But according to Earl Thomas, those words from their head coach provided Baltimore with some extra motivation. They were basically tired of hearing about the Browns.
Thomas said to reporters on Wednesday, via ESPN:
“The media was talking about OBJ and that tandem and Baker Mayfield, the next savior,” Thomas said Wednesday. “Then, to add on to that, Coach [John Harbaugh] talked about it a couple of times in meetings. So guys kind of got tired about it.”
What was Harbaugh’s message?
“He was just talking about what it looked like on paper,” Thomas said. “And guys heard that, and basically, like, ‘It sounds good, but we’ll see.'”
Harbaugh said that he simply meant his remarks as a compliment to the Browns, but his team was clearly ready to settle matters on the field.
The two division rivals will play this Sunday in Baltimore.
