The 2-4 Browns are back in action this week following a bye week and are tasked with a trip to 7-0 New England. Never mind the performance on the field, though, Cleveland’s biggest offensive playmakers are griping this week about the NFL fining them after their loss to Seattle.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield said to reporters Wednesday that he did not regret speaking out against the officiating following the Browns 32-28 loss to the Seahawks Oct. 13, even though the NFL fined him $12,500 for saying the officiating was “pretty bad,” the day of the game.
“I’d say that’s just stating facts. Freedom of speech I thought, but that’s OK, I get fined for it,” Mayfield said, per cleveland.com. “It’s the league, that’s what they do. They fine you for some ridiculous things. That’s just how it is. There’s a reason that everybody is talking about it. It’s not just me.”
According to Mayfield, his complaints were about issues that impact players on all NFL rosters.
“It goes for every team,” he said. “We’re not going to get a lot of calls, and we know that especially going into this week. There’s no time to worry about it. No time to stress about it. Just play our game.”
Odell Beckham Jr. expressed his frustration Tuesday over the fact that the league fined him $14,037 for wearing pants that “failed to cover the knee area.” The star wide receiver posted a screenshot of his letter from the NFL on Instagram earlier this week.
“14k for some pants that are NOT gonna protect me from anything … this [expletive] is ridiculous,” Beckham captioned the post.
