WR Antonio Callaway says he’s past his mistakes, QB Baker Mayfield praises his speed

One of the big rookie names to watch this year for the Cleveland Browns will be WR Antonio Callaway, who has a checkered past but plenty of talent. The fourth round pick talked to the media on Day 2 of rookie minicamp Saturday, where he was asked what changes he’s made to ensure he makes better decisions now that he’s in the NFL.

“Just surrounding myself with positive people with the same goals as me, the same energy. Just basically decision making,” said Callaway. He also emphasized several times that he has learned from his mistakes and moved on, and is taking it day-by-day to grow and mature.

Callaway failed a drug test at the NFL Combine. He attributes it to a diluted sample that he did not intentionally do, but that he takes responsibility for it (Browns fans will probably groan a bit with that one, thinking back to all of Josh Gordon’s incidents). Nonetheless, he says it was a big wake-up call for him, especially after already missing a full year of football.

First overall pick Baker Mayfield hasn’t had a chance to work with the team’s veteran receivers yet, so Callaway is the biggest receiving name in the room for this minicamp. What were his impressions on Callaway?

“He is very, very fast – a fast man. He makes good plays on the ball. When you have a guy like that and you get chemistry down, then it is dangerous. I had that with guys at Oklahoma. You get a talented receiver and then you know exactly what they are doing, you can do a lot with that. Looking forward to working with him. He is a guy that I think can help us out.”

We also know that Callaway had been mentored a little bit by Steelers WR Antonio Brown prior to the draft. Callaway says that Brown reached out to him about a month and a half ago on Twitter, telling him that he has too much talent to let it go to waste. He said the fact that both of them were from Miami, Florida, “where people rarely make it out,” helped the two bond.