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Mayfield believes 'Hard Knocks' can be good if handled right

Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports

The Browns will be the stars of this year's edition of "Hard Knocks," and the man likely to be at the center of the series has no issues with HBO's cameras getting a close-up look at his debut in Cleveland.

No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, who's set to start the season behind starter Tyrod Taylor, said he believes the Browns could use the extra attention to their advantage during a Wednesday appearance on SiriusXM NFL.

Related: 5 reasons to watch the Browns' season of 'Hard Knocks'

"For me looking at it, and us as a team, I'd say it can be good if you handle it right," Mayfield said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. "I'll just say that. If you think about it as a way to get on camera and try to show off and do certain things and handle it the wrong way then that can be very negative, it can be a distraction.

"But if you use it as a sense of, 'OK, I got to block out everything else and just focus on playing ball,' then that can be a great thing for us."

Mayfield is no stranger to the spotlight after a standout career at Oklahoma. He also has documentary experience as he starred in a pre-draft series "Behind Baker."

Related: Browns' Dorsey OK with 'Hard Knocks' after initial reluctance

"Hard Knocks wouldn’t be there if we weren't 0-16 last year," Mayfield said. "So we're working towards never having to have that situation again. I'm looking forward to being a start of something new there in Cleveland."

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