FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quarterback whisperer Adam Gase could not prepare Sam Darnold well enough to deal with the New England Patriots’ defense Monday night.

Darnold, the second-year New York Jets quarterback, was overwhelmed by the constant pressure, an onslaught of blitzers sent by Coach Bill Belichick from the opening snap.

If Darnold turned into a puddle, how on earth is first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens going to make sure Baker Mayfield isn’t seeing ghosts Sunday when the Cleveland Browns travel to Gillette Stadium?

Will Mayfield be able to avoid having the worst game of his life like Darnold just did in New Jersey?

Mayfield is having a rocky enough season as it is. Darnold, at least, was coming off being the AFC Player of the Week for his performance against the Dallas Cowboys in an upset win.

Mayfield, the first player taken in the 2018 draft, two spots ahead of Darnold, hasn’t quite helped Cleveland live up to the hype or expectations placed on the team prior to the season. He has all the pressure on him to turn the Browns’ season around. Coming off a bye, they’re 2-4 and desperate for a win to stay in contention in the AFC North.

First off, what was Kitchens’ impression of the Patriots’ defense, watching the dismantling of Darnold?

“Unbelievable,” Kitchens said his week. “They kept the pressure all night.”

Having viewed the rout, what does he say to Mayfield? How does Kitchens prepare him for all the disguised looks that have confused every quarterback meeting up with the Patriots thus far, and forcing Darnold into five turnovers in a 33-0 loss.

“I think you study film with him, you see what they’re going to do, or what you think they’re going to do,” Kitchens said. “You have to have a base of understanding of your process, and sometimes you just go play the game and go with what you see, make sure your eyes are in the right spot, and know how you react to what they do. That’s the best-case scenario.”

In between all that, Mayfield needs to make sure he knows where the blitzers are coming from, and given the Browns’ offensive line could be worse than the Jets’ line in terms of protection, he also might have trouble with white, spooky things, otherwise known as the Boogeymen. The Patriots’ linebackers tend to have that effect.

The difference for Mayfield is his threats. He does have some talent to work with if he can escape the suffocating blitz. With Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry in his receiving corps, and Nick Chubb in the backfield, that’s a formidable trio alone. He did have tight end David Njoku with the group, but he’s on the IR with a broken wrist. The Browns haven’t done much to help the offensive line, so it’s been up to Mayfield to make do with what they have.

Asked to assess Mayfield’s performance thus far, Kitchens didn’t sugarcoat his quarterback’s performance. With just five touchdown passes to 11 interceptions, there have been issues.

“I think he would be the first to tell you it’s not good enough. But overall as a team we haven’t played good enough,” said Kitchens. “We expect a lot more out of ourselves. As long as we just keep getting better each and every week – we’ll see where we’re are at the end, but everybody needs to do their job and everybody needs to play better.”

Mayfield hasn’t been making good decisions. And that’s before seeing the Patriots.

Naturally, you wouldn’t know that listening to Belichick wax poetic about the Browns’ offense.

“They have probably the second- or third-highest number of explosive and big plays of any team in the league, so it’s pretty obvious – a lot of catch-and-run plays,” said Belichick. “They’re very aggressive. They get the ball down the field and they have a variety of things they do, and they create explosive play opportunities and have players that can make them.”

They’ve gotten good production out of running back Chubb. With all that offense, maybe they’ll use him more to try and keep the ghosts away. Whatever the case, Kitchens thinks his team, his offense, has a pretty good idea what’s in store Sunday from the defense, and the Patriots in general.

“Well I think they have television sets, and guys these days are all on the internet and stuff like that, so they’re well aware,” said Kitchens. “I’m not gonna try to fool ’em to think that we’re going in to play a normal team. We’re not going in to play a normal team. We’re going in to play the New England Patriots.

“And you know, they do a good job coaching, they do a good job playing, they do a good job doing their job,” he went on. “And any time that happens … they’re not gonna beat themselves. So it’s very difficult to play against teams like that because you know their mistakes are going to be very limited, and you have to make sure you don’t beat yourself and make ’em beat you.”

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