Nine days ago
Joel Heath Jersey , Hue Jackson let it slip in a press conference that he had selected Baker Mayfield to backup Tyrod Taylor. The Browns coach, though, caught himself after realizing he hadn’t told the quarterbacks of the verdict and tried to couch it.
鈥淚 pretty much have my mind made up on where that is,鈥?Jackson backtracked to reporters. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 set it officially so you guys can write it. I like to tell my team first before I make those decisions on what we鈥檙e doing. We will kind of go from there.鈥?/p>
On Tuesday, Hard Knocks let everyone behind the scenes when Jackson told the quarterbacks of his decision.
Near the end of the final episode, Jackson called Mayfield and Drew Stanton into this office to let them know the No. 1 overall choice would begin the season active on game days as the No. 2 quarterback.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that I address both of you guys together first. I鈥檝e made a decision to make Baker the backup quarterback,鈥?Jackson told Mayfield and Stanton. 鈥淚 just wanted to make sure . . . I wanted you guys to hear it from me instead of all the stuff that flies out there and all that bulls—. I think it鈥檚 important that you hear that from me. OK?
鈥淸It鈥檚] a lot of responsibility for you [Mayfield]. Doesn鈥檛 change for you [Stanton]. Still got to be ready to play
Jarvis Landry Jersey , ready to go. But that鈥檚 the direction I want to travel. OK? So I wanted you guys to know that.鈥?/p>
Jackson dismissed Stanton before further addressing Mayfield, who went 35-of-61 for 501 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the preseason.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of what you鈥檝e done,鈥?Jackson told Mayfield. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e come in here the right way. You鈥檝e handled everything the right way, and I think that鈥檚 important for this football team. You鈥檙e a very talented young man. Keep grinding.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to keep creating situations for you to even do more. You keep doing your part every day. This is going to be your life for a long time, so I hope you understand the opportunity that鈥檚 in front of you right now. But you鈥檝e earned it. I鈥檓 not just giving it to you. You鈥檝e earned it.鈥?/p>
Mayfield thanked Jackson, and the coach added, 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of you.鈥?/p>
WINNIPEG
Kevin Zeitler Jersey , Manitoba — The Winnipeg Jets have the President’s Trophy winners on the ropes and can move into the Western Conference finals with a victory on home ice Monday night in Game 6.
The Nashville Predators, however, will have something to say about that.
When you consider no team in this series has been able to put together two consecutive victories, it is a good bet that the winner will not be decided until Thursday night in the Music City.
Whoever it is will take on the Vegas Golden Knights, who continued their Cinderella story on Sunday night by conquering the San Jose Sharks 3-0 to take their series 4-2.
The Jets took a gigantic step towards meeting Vegas on Saturday night when they put four goals past Pekka Rinne in the second period, ultimately chasing the odds-on favorite for the Vezina Trophy in what became a 6-2 victory.
The win was all the most surprising considering the stifling defense put on display by the Predators in clogging the neutral zone in a 2-1 win in Game 4 in Winnipeg.
The Jets have won 13 of their last 14 games at Bell MTS Place but the winning streak is bookended by a pair of losses to the Predators.
Captain Blake Wheeler said he and his teammates are excited about the possibility of clinching a series on home ice in front of another “White Out” with more than 15,000 fans decked out in white plus more than 20
Alex Erickson Jersey ,000 others expected to be outside at the street party.
“I’m probably not going to do any grocery shopping (before the game),” he joked after practice on Sunday.
“We’re expecting (the Predators’) best game of the season but we haven’t worried about the other team all year and we’re not going to start worrying about the other team now. This is a great opportunity for our team. We’re full-on expecting to play our best game of the season (Monday) night. It gives us no guarantees but if we play our best game of the year, it gives us an opportunity to win,” he said.
Predators defenseman PK Subban, who has been booed non-stop by Jets fans whenever he touches the puck, virtually guaranteed that his team would push the series to the limit.
“We’re a character group and we have a ton of experience here,” he told The Tennessean. “We’re going to go to Winnipeg
Aqib Talib Jersey , we’re going to win a game and we’re going to come back here (to Nashville). Every single guy in here believes that.
“We’ve had our backs against the wall before. We have to park this loss real quick and get ready to win Game 6 on the road. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. It’s going to be great for our hockey club. We’re going to build a lot of character out of that game and bring it back home.”
The Jets, who are as healthy as they’ve been all season, could have defenseman Dmitry Kulikov back in their lineup on Monday. Out for the last two months with a back injury, he has been practicing in a regular-contact jersey for several days.
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