Baker Mayfield rebounds from pick-six with 49-yard touchdown in first start

It took much longer than necessary for Baker Mayfield to take over as the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback. Only after a heroic “Thursday Night Football” comeback did head coach Hue Jackson relent and turn the ball over to his rookie full time.

That switch might not have paid off early on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, but it’s hard to argue with the overall results.

The first drive for the Mayfield-led offense on Sunday went three-and-out. The second drive went much worse.

Mayfield was looking to hit Antonio Callaway over the middle of the field, but stared down his wide out for a bit too long. The rookie’s pass was tipped then caught by Oakland’s Gareon Conley who returned it 36 yards for an easy score.

Lesson learned.

A few drives later, Mayfield earned his first NFL passing touchdown thanks to a beautiful toss and some horrid defense.

That’s Darren Fells officially welcoming the quarterback to the NFL with a 49-yard touchdown reception.

The only place that isn’t cheering that Mayfield score is Oklahoma, where his college fans are having trouble even watching the former Sooners quarterback on Sunday.

Not only did the employees at the Oklahoma City CBS affiliate disagree with the decision not to show the Browns game, they actively encouraged their viewers to complain to the NFL and Fox to let them know they were not happy about it.

If this is as bad as things get for Mayfield, he should have quite the fine career — and not just by Cleveland standards.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee

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