Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.

It has to be a nervous time for those looking out for Baker Mayfield.

The Browns’ future is tied to Mayfield’s physical and mental well-being, and both are being tested on a weekly basis.

Nine games into his first season, Mayfield already is on his second coach and second offensive coordinator after a mid-season double firing.

Mayfield’s formative first year of development now lies in the hands of a defensive coordinator-turned-interim coach and a running backs coach who never called plays in a game until a week ago.

According to one Website, the Browns have 14 dropped passes – sixth-most in the league. Nobody is out there exactly making Mayfield’s job easier.

Mayfield has been sacked 22 times in his 6 ½ games, which is a pace for 54 over a full 16 games. That is just two shy of Tim Couch’s total in the 1999 expansion season. Those sacks and hits would take their toll on Couch in ensuing seasons.

Around the league, other first-round rookie quarterbacks are rehabbing injuries.

Buffalo’s Josh Allen probably will miss his fourth game with a sprained right elbow suffered on a hit after he released the ball. The Jets’ Sam Darnold will miss his first game Sunday with a strained right foot. The Cardinals’ bye week probably saved Josh Rosen from missing a game with a sprained toe.

Each of those quarterbacks is taller and heavier than Mayfield.

Mayfield missed three plays in his last game while being checked for a concussion as a precaution. In previous games, he played through a twisted ankle and an egregiously unpenalized blow to the head. After his first career game in Pittsburgh, Mayfield winced in pain as he climbed two steps to the post-game interview dais.

“I really see his toughness,” Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn said this week.

Above the neck: Then there’s the losing.

If Sunday’s game against the Falcons follows what Vegas foresees, Mayfield’s record will drop to 1-6 as a starter, equaling the number of losses he had in three seasons at Oklahoma. He won 34 and lost six.

“Losing sucks,” Mayfield said. “There is no way around that.”

It was odd to see Mayfield relatively upbeat after the team’s fourth straight loss Sunday to Kansas City, 37-21, in the first game after the coaching changes.

“We still have a lot of games left. If I was down about it, I do not think that I would be the man for the job,” he said.

“He’s not lost a lot in his lifetime,” said left guard Joel Bitonio. “I know it’s been tough for him. I know he doesn’t take losing easy, like any of us. But as the quarterback of the team, those losses go on your record. And people are like, ‘Baker’s won one game as a starter,’ and all this stuff.

“But we have this ‘next play’ mentality. We talk about the next play, the next game. That’s the most important thing. He’s done a good job of turning the page and being focused on this next week at hand. And that’s something you have to do in the NFL, even if you’re winning.

“What he does every time, if he has a bad play, he’s ready to go next play. And if he has a good play, he’s ready to go next play. That’s something you have to do as a quarterback.”

The next step: On his conference call with Atlanta media, interim coach Gregg Williams talked up Mayfield’s attributes and said, “Now he’s got to take the next step.”

I asked Williams what is the next step for Mayfield.

He said that he assured Mayfield that “we have his back.”

“Now, let’s go,” Williams said. “You are a smart enough quarterback, instinctive enough quarterback. We understand that mistakes are going to be made. Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Just cut it loose and play, and make faster and faster decisions.

“His teammates [are] having those conversations with him. The other coaches [are] having those conversations with him. That is the next step for a young quarterback in my mind.”

Mayfield’s first season has been a classic example of how the best-laid plans often go awry.

GM John Dorsey carefully surrounded Mayfield with two veteran quarterbacks to learn from and hoped to win games without rushing him on to the field. Dorsey recommended the addition of an accomplished offensive coordinator to help the offensive-minded head coach further aid Mayfield’s development.

The fact that Mayfield is the one still standing is quite a different twist to what we’ve seen in the past.

You’d like to think that Mayfield has survived the worst. You’d like to think that Mayfield can not only make it through the final seven games, but win a few of them. After all he’s been through, that would be something.