If you are going with this train of thought, Jackson should blame Tyrod Taylor. If Taylor plays well from the jump then the Browns have a winning record and everyone is happy.
But, Taylor didn’t play well, which forced them to play Mayfield. Mayfield is a rookie and no matter how good your potential might be, you are going to struggle.
As he watched the season unfold, Jackson grew to believe that Mayfield should have been running an offense similar to the one he ran at Oklahoma, which was based on playing fast with quick throws — more slants, more outs, more fast passing and fewer seven-stop drops.
“I think you have to go back to Oklahoma and use all the concepts that made him be who he was, the first pick in the draft,” Jackson said. “I think you do everything you can to play the way he plays, and you build your offensive football team and your system to his liking. Because that’s going to help him the best version of him.”
To what, then, did Jackson attribute losing his job eight games into his third season with the Browns?
“I think when you stop and look at it, it’s truly, really about Baker Mayfield,” Jackson said. “I think they want to do everything they can to put him in the situation … I mean, you got the first pick in the draft — who I think is going to be a franchise quarterback; who’s going to be a sensational player — and he’s not playing as well.
“So again, here is the perfect storm to move forward and move on.”
In the end Jackson’s hiring of Todd Haley is what he believes cost him his job. Hue hopes to land an Offensive Coordinator job this offseason.
Flip the page for video of Jackson on 1st Take.