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Odell Beckham Jr. may have a sizable ego, but at least he realizes that he’s not the greatest of all time, and certainly not as compared to someone like Tom Brady. Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield remains very much on the outside of the GOAT conversation, looking in.

Such was the tableau that formed at the end of the Cleveland Browns’ 27-13 loss Sunday to the New England Patriots. As the teams began milling across the field, Beckham presented Brady with a pair of goat-hair cleats — and all Mayfield could do was watch.

Beckham had let it be known earlier in the week that he planned to give the furry footwear to Brady, for whom Beckham has plenty of admiration.

“I have a pair of cleats for him made out of — I hope no animals were really harmed — but made out of goat hair,” Beckham said on Tuesday (via the Akron Beacon Journal). ”[I have a pair] for me, too, but I’m gonna give them to him because he’s one of the GOATs, and he’s more the GOAT than I am.”

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Beckham proceeded dropped the qualifiers the next day and declared Brady to have separated himself from the GOAT herd.

“I know we’ve done some goat cloning, so I think there’s something going on,” Beckham said Wednesday to chuckles among reporters at Cleveland’s practice facility. “He’s not human, to be playing the way he’s still playing, mentally prepared every single game, decisive decisions, knows how to manage a game."

“He’s just very smart, he’s the best to ever do it. I don’t think anybody could argue it,” Beckham added. “He’s just the greatest, so I definitely want some of the water that he’s drinking. That’s who everyone — I know for me, as well — we all are inspired to be like.”

Beckham had also said during the week that it was “always a dream” of his to play for the Patriots, but instead of sharing a locker with Brady, the best he could do Sunday was share his custom-made, caprine cleats.

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Mayfield also had a gift to offer the Patriots, but unfortunately for him, it was arguably the season’s most embarrassing interception. On a first-quarter play, the second-year signal-caller tossed a shovel pass that appeared to be meant for wide receiver Jarvis Landry, but instead it wound up in the arms of 315-pound New England defensive end Lawrence Guy.

Making matters worse for the Browns was that the interception accounted for their third turnover in as many offensive plays to that point, following two straight fumbles by running back Nick Chubb. That helped the Patriots jump out to a 17-0 lead, and while Cleveland cut it to 17-10 early in the third quarter, New England was able to calmly pull away for the win at home.

“We’re not expecting him to be there, obviously,” Mayfield said of Guy’s interception, the first of his career. “A little misdirection, just pitching it to Jarvis. I’d like to say that I’d be able to hold onto it, but it’s a quick exchange that we’ve practiced and Guy made a good play.”

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With his Browns having tumbled to 2-5, Mayfield opined that the “problem” seems to be “just the consistency and a lack of discipline and accountability right now on Sunday.” He added at another point that his team can have all the great practice sessions it wants but needs to stop “shooting yourself in the foot” in games.

In other words, these Browns are looking and sounding a lot like versions of the team from umpteen previous seasons. That wasn’t supposed to be the case this year, especially after Cleveland added Beckham in an offseason that followed a very promising rookie campaign by Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft.

However, Mayfield has looked jittery this season behind a shaky offensive line, and he has thrown at least one interception in every game thus far, for a league-leading total of 12, to just six touchdown passes. That stands in stark contrast to the 42-year-old Brady, who is authoring yet another relentlessly efficient season, as is his 8-0 team.

Pretty cool scene postgame. Long after both locker rooms were emptied, Tom Brady and his son, Ben, waited outside the #Browns locker room to meet Odell Beckham Jr. #Patriots

Brady threw for 259 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions Sunday, giving him a 13:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio on the season. Of course, he hasn’t had to throw under many stressful circumstances, in large part because of New England’s defense, which is throttling opponents and racking up its own touchdowns at a historic rate.

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In fact, when compared to the other quarterbacks who have faced the Patriots defense this season, Mayfield performed fairly well, posting the highest quarterback rating thus far (79.2) while throwing one of just two passing touchdowns the unit has allowed.

That likely wouldn’t feel like much of a consolation prize, though, for the former Heisman Trophy winner, who cultivated a brash persona while starring at Oklahoma. On Sunday at New England, all he could do was submit another underwhelming performance, before watching his star wide receiver make it all too clear whose GOAT-tails he’d like to ride.

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