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For QBs' eyes only: Baker Mayfield keeps RV access limited

BEREA, Ohio -- Baker Mayfield will keep access exclusive to the RV he was ordered to provide for quarterbacks at Cleveland Browns training camp.

HBO's "Hard Knocks" will not even be permitted to bring its cameras inside, Mayfield said Monday. How does he get away with that?

"Privacy in my home, my mobile home," Mayfield said.

The RV has been an item of interest -- and even intrigue -- since word about it broke on the first day of camp Thursday.

In organized team activities, Drew Stanton, the resident veteran, ordered Mayfield to have the RV for camp to provide the quarterbacks a place of respite. Since the RV became public, it has been a much-discussed oddity among the media and the Browns' quarterbacks.

"What RV?" Tyrod Taylor said when asked about it.

He then said "not sure" when asked twice more.

"It's just something for us to be able to get away," Taylor said. "Not anything special or anything. Y'all are making it way bigger of a deal than it should be."

This is not the first time players have used an RV during camp; it's not even the first time it's been used by Browns players. In the early 2000s, the offensive line had a similar RV for relaxing during the grind of camp, former operations manager Jad Richa said. Stanton said when he played for the Detroit Lions that the quarterbacks had a similar RV, as Shaun Hill instructed Matthew Stafford to get one.

Stanton's approach shows that even first overall picks like Stafford and Mayfield have to go through rites of rookie passage.

"The RV started back in the spring when we had the rules committee for Baker, day one," Stanton said.

Said Mayfield: "Drew just has a list of commandments. I think if I abide by them, I might play as long as he has, so we'll stick to it."

At first, Mayfield wasn't sure Stanton was serious about the RV, but after talking to him outside the meeting room, the rookie realized he "was dead serious."

The RV may be for quarterbacks, but Stanton said any offensive lineman has VIP status and any offensive player can visit.

"It's just someplace that you can go, you can get out of these four walls that start to close in on you after a period of time," Stanton said. "There's no secret meetings or anything going on."

Added Mayfield: "You do get one break between the walk-through and practice, so you've got to be able to kind of relax a little bit, unwind before practice. Whether it's looking at your scripts and doing all of that over again, just getting your mind right.

"You can do that in the locker room. You can do that in the players' lounge. They have kind of a sleeping area for players, and we just decided to make a little fun of it and have something for us."

Training camps make for long days, with quarterbacks usually walking in the door at 6 a.m. or earlier. The Browns provide beds for naps.

"But there's 30 beds and 90 guys," Stanton said. "So you do the math. The odds aren't in your favor."

The RV is parked in the players lot, an area that is off-limits to the general public. The RV that was first used and has been photographed will soon be replaced -- and upgraded. Mayfield said fans had rented so many RVs for Sunday's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in nearby Lexington that he had to settle for what was available.

"We had to deal with what we could take at the time, so we'll get the upgrade when it's available," Mayfield said.

Rookie responsibility means he pays the bill.

"I will not be writing any checks for it," Stanton said.

Mayfield smiled when asked if that would hurt his bottom line.

"We'll see," he said.