Baker Mayfield attempts a tackle on Houston strong safety Justin Reid after Reid’s interception in the first half of the Sept. 19, 2021 game. Mayfield was never completely recovered from the injury for the rest of the season.John Kuntz, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Anthony Schwartz, the Browns’ 2021 third-round receiver out of Auburn, spent his entire rookie season incurring the wrath of the Baker Bros and trying to shake the rap as the guy who caused Mayfield’s shoulder injury when he stopped on his deep route in Week 2 against the Texans.

“It mainly bothered me because I kind of felt like people were trying to blame me for something when we both did something wrong on that play,’’ Schwartz told cleveland.com on the final day of mandatory minicamp last month. “I didn’t finish the play and I don’t think he made the right read, but we were both wrong and unfortunately it ended up like that.’’

On a third and long from near midfield, Mayfield fired the ball over the deep middle for Schwartz, who froze on the in-route only to watch safety Justin Reid pick off the pass. Reid showed no mercy on Mayfield’s ill-advised tackle attempt, trucking through his outstretched left shoulder as he blasted 24 yards upfield.

“I think [Reid] realized it was me standing right there, so he put his head down and ran right after me,’’ Mayfield said at the time. “It kind of popped in and out, but I will be good. Nothing too serious.”

Little did anyone know at the time that Mayfield had suffered a fully torn labrum in his left non-throwing shoulder that would mark the beginning of the end of his career with the Browns. The injury contributed significantly to Mayfield’s worst career season, and the Browns’ dismal 8-9 record.

If not for that unfortunate series of events, Mayfield might still be a Brown instead of a Panther preparing to face his former team on opening day in Carolina. Deshaun Watson might be with one of the other three teams that lost out to the Browns for him in March, and Schwartz might’ve had a productive rookie season instead of vanishing in thin air.

“You don’t ever think [Reid’s] going to run all the way down and all of a sudden, he hits our quarterback in the shoulder and he tears his labrum,’’ Schwartz said. “A lot of things have to happen for that to happen, and it’s unfortunate. That’s one of the plays from last year that I wish I could take back. But at end of the day I don’t think it’s in the right for me to take all that blame. But as a rookie I couldn’t say anything. I just had to keep my head down and keep working and keep moving past it.’’

With Mayfield in pain and slow to get up, Schwartz rushed over to help him, but it didn’t stop the rookie from catching an earful from his coaches and hell from from the Baker Bros — the dedicated legions of Mayfield fans who believe he can do no wrong, many with an Oklahoma zip code.

“At the time, I felt I deserved it,’’ Schwartz said. “I should have ran through the route and even if I don’t catch the ball, I probably can still break it up. But maybe the defense got Baker right there. Maybe he made the wrong read. There’s a lot of things that go into that play and you can’t just say ‘oh, he stopped on his route, it’s your fault.’’'

A few days later, Mayfield said he and Schwartz ‘hashed it out,’ and he did what any good quarterback would do — shared the blame and took the onus off of his young receiver even though Schwartz had clearly truncated the route.

“That’s the trust factor of me playing on time, listening to my feet and ball out when it’s supposed to be,’’ Mayfield said then. “It would have been a bang-bang play, but it’s all of the little things and the details, landmarks and depths that we have been harping on.’’

Mayfield’s partial exoneration of Schwartz eased his mind in the immediate aftermath.

“Of course there was frustration after the play,’’ Schwartz said. “But going back into the film room, we came to the agreement that we were both wrong on that play. And there was no animosity, no throwing anyone under the bus. It was just two guys be professional. We were able to fix it, and then we moved on to the next thing.’’

But despite Schwartz’ promise to Mayfield that ‘it would never happen again,’ Mayfield rarely looked to the blazing speedster the rest of the season — even after Odell Beckham Jr. forced his way out of town at midseason.

Schwartz mostly overlooked after the incident

After Schwartz caught a season-high three passes in the opener in Kansas City for 69 yards in place of Beckham, Mayfield never targeted him more than twice a game after the injury — and that happened on only two occasions. In seven games, Mayfield threw to him only once, and one time, he bypassed him altogether on Schwartz’ six snaps. Consequently, Schwartz finished the season with a mere 10 catches for 135 yards and only one touchdown, a 5-yarder from Mayfield in the Christmas Day loss to Green Bay that closed the gap to 24-22 late in the game.

Schwartz did have three targets in a trio of games after Mayfield’s injury, but backup quarterback Case Keenum started two of those games, and replaced Mayfield in the other to provide the third target. At times, Schwartz was open downfield and Mayfield ignored him.

“There were probably times where that happened, but if he didn’t have trust in me, that’s not anything on him, that’s all on me,’’ Schwartz said. “It’s up to me to prove to him that he can trust me to be in the right place and catch the ball.’’

In the wake of the errant route, Schwartz relied heavily on his mentors such as Jarvis Landry and Beckham to process it. Schwartz had become close to Landry during workouts together in Florida even before the Browns drafted him, and to Beckham during the season when the three-time Pro Bowler took him under his wing.

“My whole room kind of gathered behind me because they know that stuff is part of the game and not everything is going to be perfect,’’ Schwartz said. “Especially guys like Odell, Jarvis, [Rashard] Higgins, everyone got behind me and just told me it’s in the past, just keep on moving, keep on going forward. I had to keep that mindset the rest of the year, and that’s the mindset I want to keep for the rest of my career.’’

A Series of Unfortunate Events

But labrum-shaming was just one of the adverse events Schwartz suffered in his rookie year. It began from the jump in rookie minicamp when he pulled a hamstring and was forced to sit out most of the rest of the offseason and training camp. It’s hard enough for a veteran to miss training camp, but for a rookie, it’s the kiss of death.

Besides, a world-class sprinter with a pulled hamstring is as bad as quarterback with only one good wing. Schwartz did his best to stay in the game mentally, but nothing replicates repping it over and over. He and Mayfield never had a chance to develop timing or rhythm before the season, and it hurt him throughout the year.

Still, it didn’t stop him from having to step in at the last minute for Beckham in the season opener in Kansas City. The Browns believed Beckham was recovered enough from his torn ACL surgery in November to play, but he tapped out in pre-game warmups when the knee didn’t feel right. As it turns out, the initial surgery didn’t heal properly, and and Beckham ultimately re-tore it in the Super Bowl with the Rams after catching the game’s first TD pass.

But Schwartz, with very little practice time under his belt, was asked to bend it like Beckham in Week 1 against the defensive AFC Champion Chiefs, and he rose to the occasion. He caught 3-of-5 targets for 69 yards, including a 44-yarder on the first play of the second drive that led to a TD.

He caught a 16-yarder to the KC 22 on the opening drive that resulted in a TD, and he dashed 17 yards around right end on the third possession to help set up another TD for a 22-10 command with just under three minutes left in the half. Suddenly, the Browns had the mighty Chiefs on the ropes — and Schwartz was the unlikely hero.

Ultimately, Patrick Mahomes put on his Superman cape and vanquished the Browns in the second half for a 33-29 victory. But Schwartz was off to a smashing start and hopes were raised.

“Going into the game, I prepared like I was a starter, so it didn’t catch me by surprise,’’ Schwartz said. “But as soon as the news came out, Odell was telling me ‘this is your time, you’ve got this, you’ve prepared for this.’ Knowing that Odell Beckham Jr. had the confidence in me to go out there and show what I could do gave me more confidence in myself.’’

Unfortunately for Schwartz, the promising debut was followed by Mayfield’s injury in Week 2, and in the four weeks following the opener, he had only one target per game — and no receptions. It didn’t help matters that Mayfield, due in part to the injury and clunky harness on the left shoulder, became wildly inaccurate on the deep ball. In Weeks 4-5, he endured a brutal 0-for-11 stretch on passes of 20 yards or longer, and had completed only 6-of-24 at that point for 29th in the NFL.

It was a far cry from his blistering finish in that category in 2020, when Mayfield ranked third in the NFL over the second half of the season with a 95.5 grade, according to Pro Football Focus.

A Concussion Derails the Rest of his Season

Beckham also returned to the field in Week 3, and Schwartz mostly disappeared the rest of the season. To make matters worse, just when he started to rebound, he was drilled in the head on a kickoff return in the 45-7 loss to New England Nov. 14, and suffered a serious concussion that rendered him inactive for three games over the span of a month, including the bye week.

“It was hard because I was at a point where I was kind of ‘hey, like I’m getting back, I’m getting into this’ and then ‘Boom!’’' He said. “I missed three games, and I had to work my way back from that, and it was just like ‘it’s not the same anymore.’ I just didn’t feel the same as I was before that happened.’’

Throughout his tumultuous rookie season — which felt a lot like the rollercoasters he loves to ride — he relied heavily on the support of his mom, Jill, with whom he’s extremely close.

“She was always there for me,’’ he said. “She always had my back and I just knew she was always there for me if I needed someone to talk to someone that will listen to me hear me out. She really helped me stay positive throughout the season.’’

Schwartz also had to deal with the midseason departure of Beckham, which left him reeling. Like so many others on the team, Schwartz felt like he had lost a family member.

“It was hard, especially a guy that everyone admired in the locker room, especially guys like me who grew up watching him,’’ Schwartz said. “When he made the [one-handed] catch on Monday Night Football, I watched it live. He was a guy that I’ve always looked up to, and just being able to play with him for even half a season, I just appreciated every moment.

“I got to practice with the guy, watch him practice, see how he plays, see how he carries himself. That whole situation was tough, but I’m glad it worked out in the end and that was able to win a Super Bowl ring.’’

Schwartz remained in contact with Beckham during those frenzied few days between his father sharing the ‘Odell Beckham Jr. is Always Open’ video and Beckham being released and signing with the Rams.

“There’s a lot of stuff that I can’t really go public with, but I was mainly just talking to him as a teammate and friend,’’ Schwartz said.

Like most of his teammates, Schwartz would welcome Beckham back with open arms and has heard he’s not ruling it out. It probably won’t happen because of the unceremonious departure and the feeling on the part of some in the organization that he quit on the team. But Schwartz would embrace such a move once Beckham is fully recovered from the corrective surgery on the ACL after the Super Bowl.

“Why would I be against it bringing a guy like that back?’’ Schwartz said. “We saw what he can do. He’s still Odell Beckham, so I’d love to have him back even if he’s not even able to play until the latter half of the season. I know what he brings to the locker room and I know I can learn a lot more again under him, and I especially think him and Amari Cooper would complement each other perfectly.’’

In the absence of Beckham, Schwartz has had a new elite veteran watching out for him in Deshaun Watson, with whom he’s developed good chemistry in the offseason. Watson will likely be suspended for at least part of the season, but Schwartz has made the most of their time together so far.

“It’s been great watching him and being able to catch passes from a quarterback like that,’’ Schwartz said. “He’s a guy that wants you to come and learn from him. He wants you to talk to him and so he can tell you like what he’s looking at what he wants you to do. Just having a guy there that’s great, I don’t really know how to explain it. I feel like he’s just a little different, I would say.’’

With Watson’s deadly accuracy on the deep ball, Schwartz should revive his career. The Browns drafted another receiver in the third round this year in David Bell, and they have high hopes for him once he recovers from a minor foot injury, but Schwartz has a chance to prove his critics wrong, including the Baker boo birds.

“He’s not forgotten by me or us,’’ coach Kevin Stefanski said during draft weekend. “We’re counting on him to have a big year. We’re excited about his development. He’s a kid who knows he wants to work. He’s here. He’s working hard with Deshaun. We’re excited about what Anthony brings to the table.”

Despite his inexorable link to Mayfield’s injury and the end of his career here, the two have kept in touch.

“I feel like no matter what happens, he’s a great quarterback,’’ Schwartz said before Mayfield was traded to Carolina July 6th. “I think he’ll do great things in this league and any team will be lucky to have him.’’

As for Schwartz, he’s ready for whatever Stefanski has in store for him this season.

“To me, nothing’s off the table, whether it’s playing outside, playing in the slot, deep balls, shorter passes, reverses, speed sweeps, kick return, punt return — no matter where I’m needed, I’ll do it,’’ he said.

And though he’d rather forget that one cataclysmic moment in time, he’ll always embrace his turbulent rookie year.

“There were a lot of ups and down, a lot of craziness that happened,’’ he said. “But I’ll still look back on and appreciate every opportunity I had. The best thing is, it can only go up from there.’’

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