Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

[osugrad21]

CPD

If it doesn't fit, must you, uh, quit?


Monday, December 11, 2006Bill Livingston
Plain Dealer Columnist
Everybody hasn't quit on Romeo Crennel, but it looks like many of the Browns have.
There are old pros around like Joe Jurevicius, who considered coming back here to be almost a sacred trust.
There are guys like Kellen Winslow Jr., eager to make their names in the league, hungry to win. He has been underused, but he is not under-motivated.
There are young players like Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson, who are finally, tardily, engaged in job competition. Both would lose their chance by not giving their all.
Also, players who might have fostered more of a team feeling have either been hurt a lot, like Willie McGinest, or were knocked out before the season began, like LeCharles Bentley.
Overall, though, it looks like so many Browns are mailing it in that you wonder, given the size of the players in the NFL, if bulk rates are available at the post office.
Sunday in Baltimore could present the last meaningful chance for Crennel and his team to rescue each other. The final two games are "so what?" contests outside the division.
If Anderson gets the start he deserves, the Browns could get a real read on his ability. The Ravens placed Anderson on waivers, whereupon the Browns claimed him. So Baltimore will have a scouting report on him. It's not as if he's going to ambush the Ravens with a better arm and quicker reads than Frye, which is how he surprised the Steelers.
It's not as if the Ravens' fierce defense is going to wait for Anderson to make a mistake, either, as did Kansas City.
But it is a long shot for the downtrodden Browns to beat the Ravens. A loss would make the first time ever a franchise that had a lot of pride a long time ago failed to win a single division game. It would give Crennel an aggregate 1-11 record against AFC North opponents. Can anyone survive such a record in his biggest games?
The Browns have been blown out twice in their past three games. Both were against division rivals, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Both games were unwatchable unless you were paid to be there and write about them.
Players who talk very good games (This means you, Braylon Edwards) drop passes. The defense gets blown off the line. The players make feeble attempts at tackles further downfield.
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Worse, there seems to be open dissension on the team. There is no quick fix for such poison. Although the forced resignation of offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon was hoped to be a cure-all, it is obvious now that the problems run much deeper than that.
It is very hard to get modern pro athletes to buy into the idea that the team comes first. Bill Belichick (Hey, who knew?) has done that in New England. Gregg Popovich did it in San Antonio in the NBA. Joe Torre has done it with the New York Yankees. Crennel is from the Belichick coaching tree, but his behind-the-scenes work has not been sufficient to change the players' habits.
He is also so honest that he is coming off as bewildered. He says things like "I don't know how that happened," "I can't explain that" and "I have to figure that out" in his news conferences.
The front office wants to sell stability after so many years of chaos. But when players quit on a coach, it is hard for the same man to get them back.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

McGinest has seen this before
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
12/11/2006

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BEREA -- Willie McGinest has run into too many dead ends in his career to be deceived into thinking a struggling team turned the corner just because it had one good game.


The mood was understandably jolly in Berea after the Browns rallied to beat the Chiefs 31-28 in overtime Dec. 3. As excited as the players were after that game, they were in a state of shock after being pummeled by the Steelers, 27-7, just four days later. Defensive players in particular were left catatonic.

Willie Parker gashed the Browns for 223 yards rushing. It was a Steelers record, breaking the record of 219 yards set by Frenchy Fuqua in 1970. Less than three weeks earlier, the Browns held Parker to just 47 yards. Parker's longest gain Thursday, 39 yards, was more than double the Browns rushing total of 18 yards. Two other runs were each longer than 18 yards.

''That (Chiefs) game was like a stepping stone,'' McGinest said Friday before the players got a weekend break. ''I don't think you win one game and say everything is solved. It would definitely take us to beat a couple good teams in a row, especially a team in our division we played tough last time.''

McGinest has experienced losing streaks before in his career, though really it has not happened often. When he was a rookie in New England in 1994, the Patriots won the last seven games in the regular season and steamed into the playoffs with a 10-6 record. The Browns beat them, 20-13, in a wild-card game. The Browns haven't won a playoff game since.

Though shaken by the playoff loss, the Patriots hoped to build on the momentum gained by the run at the end of 1994. They won their opener in 1995 and then lost five straight. They staggered to a 6-10 finish. The next year they were 11-5, won the AFC East and advanced to the Super Bowl, which they lost to Green Bay 35-21.

McGinest relayed to reporters what he told his Browns teammates after the debacle in Pittsburgh. This is McGinest's first season with the Browns after 12 with the Patriots. One reason coach Romeo Crennel was eager to be reunited with McGinest was for a crisis like this.

Crennel was the Patriots' defensive coordinator from 2001-2004 and, prior to that, coached the New England defensive line from 1994-96.

''I told the guys, it always starts with me,'' McGinest said. ''I take responsibility. It wasn't one play that did it. It wasn't one thing. It was all the way around. Pittsburgh spanked us pretty good.''

Normally, players operate under what they refer to as ''a 24-hour rule.'' They can savor a game won on Sunday or stew about a loss until Monday and then it is time to get to work preparing for the next opponent. The Browns, though, have had four days to relive the nightmare in Heinz Field.

''It's frustrating,'' McGinest said. ''All you can do is come to work and keep working. We have Baltimore coming up. We have to get out of this funk somehow.''

The Browns play the Ravens in Baltimore next Sunday. They have to win to avoid going 0-6 in the AFC North. Even in the bleakest years -- 1974 (4-10), 1975 (3-11), 1990 (3-13), 1999 (2-14) and 2000 (3-13) -- they won at least one division game.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Staph problems continuing?

Browns' Russell hospitalized, on injured reserve with likely recurrence of infection
Tuesday, December 12, 2006Mary Kay Cabot
Plain Dealer Reporter
Browns safety Brian Russell remains hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic with a likely recurrence of his staph infection and has been placed on injured reserve. He finally succumbed to the elbow infection that has plagued him since just before the final preseason game.
To make matters worse for the beleaguered defense, defensive tackle Orpheus Roye also was placed on injured reserve with a left knee injury - but vows to return for his 12th season in 2007.
Russell was sent home from Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon and was admitted to the Clinic, where he underwent a second surgery on his right elbow to remove a skin infection. He also underwent surgery Sept. 1 to excise staph from the elbow.

Russell had the arm heavily wrapped after the first surgery and didn't miss any regular-season games, but the incision split open during the home game against the Steelers Nov. 19. He played through it for two weeks, but it swelled up again Thursday in Pittsburgh, and he immediately was sent home.
Browns coach Romeo Crennel said doctors still are awaiting results of some cultures, and he couldn't confirm if it was staph. Russell is the fourth known Browns player to suffer a staph infection in the past 18 months. The others are Kellen Winslow Jr., Braylon Edwards and LeCharles Bentley. According to NFL Network, Bentley is contemplating another surgery on his reconstructed knee, one that would sideline him for the 2007 season.
As for staph infections, Crennel said, "I think our people here have done everything they can to make sure things like that don't happen. People from the Clinic have been out, and they've investigated, and we've passed in every situation, so we've done everything we can to protect the players."
Russell's teammates were concerned about him and sorry to see his season end. "We'll keep him in our prayers and dedicate the rest of the season to him because I know he really wants to be out here with us," said safety Sean Jones. "It's hard not to have him in the locker room because he's so much of a leader, especially in the secondary. But we've got to move on."
Crennel said he's spoken to Russell on the phone, and "he's disappointed, but he's in a good frame of mind and said he's willing to help however he can because he knows we've got young guys back there. Under the circumstances, he's doing pretty good."
Crennel said the loss of Russell hurts because he's the quarterback of the secondary.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "He's been a leader back there as far as getting some of those young guys on the same page, making adjustments and adapting," said Crennel. "But we still have [Brodney] Pool, who's been in the system, and he's capable. He's played several positions for us throughout the year, so we might have to limit some of the things that we're asking him to do."

Several players lobbied for the Browns to re-sign Russell, who's a free agent after this season.
"He's the glue that holds us together in the secondary," said cornerback Leigh Bodden. "We need him back."
Crennel declined to discuss Russell's future, but said "I like Brian." Jones admitted the staph problem has been "kind of a concern because you want to be safe at all times when you're working, but we'll just leave that in the trainers' hands and the doctors' hands. They say they have it under control."

Roye, who's signed through 2009, said it's a double-whammy to lose two starters for the rest of the season. Simon Fraser will replace Roye in the lineup.
"You always want your key guys out there playing and trying to help you win, so it's a letdown," Roye said. "But that just gives the young guys a chance to go out there and show the coaches what they can do. We've just got to try to be up for next year."
He said he's not overly concerned with staph in the building.
"You've just got to try to prevent things," Roye said. "There's some things you don't have any control over. You can only do what you can do."
Roye said he doesn't have to have another surgery on his left knee, and he just needs time to let his medial collateral ligament heal.
"I don't think it will slow me down," he said. "Every year I tend to come in in the off-season feeling a little bit better about myself. I don't see it as a setback. It will just give me time to get healthy and get ready for next year."
Replacing Roye and Russell on the roster are rookie defensive tackle Orien Harris and second-year safety Ben Emanuel, who both were signed to two-year contracts.
Harris, a fourth-round pick of the Steelers out of the University of Miami, was signed off Pittsburgh's practice squad.
Emanuel, a fifth-round pick of the Panthers out of UCLA in 2005, was signed as a free agent and has been out of football since Washington waived him in August. He started seven of the 11 games in which he played for San Francisco last season.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

BROWNS INSIDER
Sore subject: Frye hurtin' and uncertain


Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Browns quarterback Charlie Frye didn't sound optimistic about playing Sunday in Baltimore.
"It's still sore," he said of the bone bruise in his right wrist. "I've been in getting treatment all weekend, but it's still feeling sore."
He said he doesn't know if he'll be healthy enough to play, but expects to start if he is.

"I really haven't taken it out of the brace all weekend," he said. "I hope it's feeling a little bit better, but I probably won't know until Wednesday if I'm able to throw a ball or not."
Frye said he hasn't tried to throw a ball since Dec. 3, when he hurt it against Kansas City.
"I tried to grip the ball [on Thursday], but it was just a sharp pain in there," said Frye. "Other than that, I haven't really taken the brace off, just to shower."
Frye, a tough player who's known for playing hurt, said the location of the injury is the problem. "The thing about this is, everything goes through [the wrist] for me to be able to play because I'm throwing the football," he said. "That's the tricky thing about this injury. If it was anywhere else, I'd be ready to play, but it's an important part of the whole throwing technique."
Frye said he'll probably know -- at least in his own mind -- if he'll be able to play by Wednesday.
"It would be unfair of me to sit out all week and try to play," he said. "To give Derek [Anderson] some late notice, that would be unfair."
Coach Romeo Crennel said it's still too early to say who he'll start at quarterback.
"You guys keep asking me the question, If Charlie is healthy, is he going to start?' " said Crennel. "I've said all along, I'm going to see what they can do and how it turns out. Then, I'll make a determination at that time."
He said he'll determine who starts by which player gives him the best chance to win the game.
Other injuries:

Receiver Dennis Northcutt suffered a shoulder injury in Pittsburgh and most likely will be listed as questionable. Crennel said he didn't know if Northcutt's injury impacted his game or his three drops. If he can't play, third-round pick Travis Wilson could see action. . . . Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson suffered turf toe and also proba^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^bly will be questionable.
Drop control:
Crennel said the receivers will do some extra things to try to eliminate the dropped passes.
"I was talking to somebody who said we can put dots on the ball or numbers on the panel and make them call out the number before they catch it," said Crennel. "Generally, concentration and getting them to do that more, whether that is coloring the tip of the ball or putting numbers on it, but we are going to try to get them to concentrate more."

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

What if Frye is ready to go?
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BEREA Charlie Frye said he has been taking off his wrist brace only to shower.
Frye said ?a sharp pain? shot through the wrist when he tried to grip the football last week. He?ll take off the brace Wednesday and gauge whether he can practice for Sunday?s game at Baltimore.
Head Coach Romeo Crennel won?t say if he?ll give Derek Anderson another start, even if the ?bruised bone? in Frye?s wrist is better.
Thus, Frye has a while longer to contemplate what might have been had he and the Browns held a 14-3 lead over the Ravens on Sept. 24.
Some hits alight like love taps. Linebacker Bart Scott?s crashed like a major meteor. It left a crater in the Browns? season.
The sting of an 0-2 start was easing with each Frye pass to Kellen Winslow Jr. Down the field they went, 21 yards, 7 yards, 16 yards.
The Browns led 14-12 when they reached the Baltimore 4 with about four minutes left.
On second down, Frye dropped back. Braylon Edwards was open in the back of the end zone. Frye saw Cleveland leading 21-12 as he prepared to throw. Everyone else saw Scott screaming around end from Frye?s blind side.
Frye?s eyes instinctively shut when Scott smashed into his back as he threw. The hit changed the trajectory of the ball. Cornerback Chris McAlister had time to move in front of Edwards for an interception.
Steve McNair drove the Ravens to a fourth-and-2 at the Cleveland 33 with 24 seconds left. Matt Stover kicked the 52-yard field goal that gave the Ravens a 15-14 win.
?We should have won,? Frye said Monday. ?We were all the way down there, ready to put them away.?
Browns left tackle Kevin Shaffer said such games warp seasons. Prior to Thursday?s Pittsburgh game, Shaffer said, the only two games the Browns didn?t have a good chance to win were against the Bengals.
?People look at our record, 4-9, and say, ?They can?t be any good,? ? Shaffer said. ?Once you start losing a couple of close ones, things just get worse. It hurts the rest of the season.
?Then it?s hard to come back. The next time you?re close, it?s hard to come through.
?But if you?re on the other end of the spectrum ... Baltimore won that close one against us. There?s probably a couple of others like that where they came through (notably against the Chargers).
?It just went their way. We could be very easily be in that situation had a couple close games gone our way.?
Shaffer can?t be sure who he?ll be blocking for Sunday, when the Browns get a rematch against a Baltimore team that is 10-3.
Crennel was evasive Monday, saying, ?You guys keep asking, ?If Charlie is healthy, is he going to start?? I?ve said all along, I?m going to see what they can do and how it turns out. Then, I?ll make a determination at that time.?
If Frye is healthy, is there a plan to get both Frye and Anderson at least one more start over the final three games?
?Not yet,? Crennel said.
Frye would hate not to start against Baltimore. He has had only five passing games of 200 or more yards in his 17 pro starts. The biggest of them was 298 yards in the Sept. 24 game against the Ravens.
In the first half of this season, Frye had only one game with a passer rating above 90. It was against Baltimore.
Anderson is eager to face the Ravens. They drafted him in Round 6 last year and waived him late in the preseason.
Frye won?t play if he doesn?t practice. In seven quarters of action over the previous two games, Anderson is 33-of-58 for 447 yards.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Frye unsure if he'll be ready for Ravens
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
12/12/2006

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BEREA -- Charlie Frye says his bruised right wrist is still too sore to throw a football more than a week after he was knocked out of the game against the Chiefs Dec. 3.


Frye continues to wear a brace that extends from his palm to about six inches beyond his wrist. He wears it day and night except when he showers.

''I've been getting treatment all weekend,'' Frye said yesterday. ''I probably won't know until Wednesday if I'm able to throw the ball.''

Frye said he expects to start in Baltimore if he is healthy, but he said it would not be fair to Derek Anderson to sit out all week and then all of a sudden be ready to play Sunday.

Anderson subbed for Frye at halftime of the Kansas City game and played all four quarters in Pittsburgh.

One of Frye's best games this season was against Baltimore Sept. 24. He completed 21-of-33 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown on a 58-yard strike to Braylon Edwards. All the good was undone when he threw an interception in the end zone with 3:28 left. The Ravens won the game 15-14 on a 52-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 20 seconds to play.

''That was another game we should have won,'' Frye said. ''We were down there ready to score and put them away. Those games hurt.''

Frye has been sacked 43 times and knocked down at least as many times after throwing the ball. It was on one of those knockdowns he was hurt in the Kansas City game. He braced himself as he fell, bruising a bone in his wrist.

''The tricky thing about this is everything goes through this for me to be able to play because I'm throwing the football,'' Frye said. ''If it was anywhere else, I'd be ready to play.''

Frye has completed 227-of-358 passes for 2,267 yards this season. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.

Roye finished

Orpheus Roye won't play again this year. The 11-year veteran was placed on injured reserve yesterday with a left knee injury. The same injury kept him out the game Thursday in Pittsburgh and the one Dec. 3 vs. Kansas City. He missed the game against Baltimore Sept. 24 with a shoulder injury and the one in San Diego with a hamstring injury.

Roye finishes 2006 with 38 tackles in nine games. He made 95 tackles in 16 games last year.

Surgery to repair Roye's left medial collateral ligament will not be necessary, coach Romeo Crennel said. Roye said he expects to make a full recovery and be back at left defensive end next year.

''I'll go through the offseason, get healthy, get stronger, come back and try to have a good season,'' Roye said. ''A lot of injuries slowed me down this year. The good thing is I can heal and come back stronger.''

Simon Fraser will replace Roye as a starter.

End added

The Browns can't beat the Steelers on the filed, but they can raid the Pittsburgh practice squad.

Yesterday the Browns claimed 6-3, 302-pound Orien Harris, a 6-3, 302 pound end from Miami (Fla.) and put him on the active roster. He fills the vacancy created when Roye was put on injured reserve.

Harris was a fourth-round draft choice by the Steelers last April. He was among the final cuts Sept. 2 and put on the Steelers practice squad two days later. In college, he started 34 of 48 games at Miami and made 159 tackles with 11 sacks, 54 quarterback pressures and 30 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Northcutt hurts shoulder

Punt returner/wide receiver Dennis Northcutt has a shoulder injury. It is being evaluated. Northcutt was unavailable for comment yesterday. Crennel said Northcutt is unsure when in the Pittsburgh game the injury occurred. Northcutt dropped three passes in Heinz Field.

Defensive end Nick Eason (foot) and linebacker D'Qwell Jackson (turf toe) are additions to the injury report that already includes guard Joe Andruzzi (knee), linebacker Willie McGinest (pectoral muscle) and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. (knee).

Players were off Saturday and Sunday. Crennel is hopeful the extra rest will speed their recovery.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Russell sidelined for rest of year
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
12/12/2006

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BEREA -- Brian Russell, sent home before the Browns played the Steelers Thursday because of swelling in his right elbow, spent his fifth day in The Cleveland Clinic yesterday being treated for a likely recurrence of the staph infection that forced him to be hospitalized in August.


The Browns put Russell on injured reserve yesterday. He will miss the rest of the season.

Teammates will miss him on the field, but they are more concerned about his health and the fact staph problems continue to lurk around the Browns.

Four players have had staph infections since July, 2005. Kellen Winslow Jr. incurred one through the incision made to repair his torn ACL about a month after surgery on June 11, 2005. Braylon Edwards had a staph infection in his right elbow in October last season and missed two games.

LeCharles Bentley incurred a staph infection after surgery to repair his torn patellar tendon in training camp this past summer. He was hospitalized in September, needed another surgery to clean out the infection, and lost at least 10 pounds in the process.

Sean Jones, the starting strong safety, said in the locker room yesterday he has not spoken with Russell since Russell was hospitalized. Jones and Russell started 12 games together before Russell could not answer the bell for Game 13.

''This kind of time, people want to be by themselves,'' Jones said. ''They don't want to be involved in all this stuff, but it's hard for him not being in the locker room because he's so much of a leader, especially in the secondary.

''I don't think we're going to get him back. We have to move on and keep him in our prayers. We're going to dedicate the rest of the season to him because I know he wants to be with us.''

The bacteria that cause staph infections can be found on the skin and in nasal passages of healthy people. It does not become dangerous until it enters a person's body through a cut or scrape. Then it can cause blood or joint infections, pneumonia or even death.

According to an Associated Press story last month, germs that had been found mainly in hospitals and health care facilities have surfaced in locker rooms, weight rooms and other training facilities.

''We don't know why,'' Dr. Steve Gordon, the Cleveland Clinic's department chairman of infectious disease, told the AP. ''It's why we encourage everyone to practice proper hygiene, especially athletes who can be at higher risk.''

According to Browns General Manager Phil Savage, a team of specialists from Cleveland Clinic inspected the Browns facility twice for staph. It concluded the cases involving Browns players are unrelated and that the Browns are taking proper preventative measures,

Russell suspected his original staph infection might have started while playing the Bills Aug. 26 on the FieldTurf in Ralph Wilson Stadium because a couple days later his elbow swelled. The staph infection was surgically removed Sept. 1. He missed the final preseason game against the Bears but was back for the regular season opener.

Russell and the Browns thought Russell's infection was beaten, but then he fell on his elbow in the Pittsburgh game Nov. 19 in Cleveland. The incision from the staph surgery opened. Russell returned to finish the Pittsburgh game after the wound was closed and he played in the next two games.

Coach Romeo Crennel said Russell remains in Cleveland Clinic as doctors wait for the results of cultures done Thursday.

''He's disappointed because he's going to miss this game,'' Crennel said. ''He's in a good frame of mind and said he's willing to help any way he can because he knows we have young guys back there. Under the circumstances, he's doing pretty well.''

Jones said players are instructed about ways to avoid staph infections. The best prevention, he said, is to wash their hands with soap and water after lifting or to shower after being in the whirlpool. Often, however, players enter the locker room from the weight room, go straight to their lockers and dress for practice without washing their hands first.

Defensive end Orpheus Roye said it is important to follow the safety guidelines, but, like most things, Roye doesn't fret about staph.

''You really can't worry about that,'' Roye said. ''If you worry about something like that, you have to worry about everything that happens in life. You can't defend everything. You just have to do the right thing, do things safely and let it be.''

Brodney Pool is replacing Russell as the starting free safety.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

BROWNS
Frye expects to start if healthy, but coach wavers
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
James Walker
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

BEREA, Ohio ? Cleveland Browns quarterback Charlie Frye said he believes he will start Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens as long as he?s healthy.
Coach Romeo Crennel was not nearly as definitive yesterday.
Frye?s right wrist is still in a splint, and he has not thrown a football in more than a week. He isn?t sure when he will be able to practice, so Cleveland is entering another week of uncertainty involving Frye and backup Derek Anderson.
"You guys keep asking me that question about if Charlie?s healthy, will he start?" Crennel said. "I?ve said all along that we?ll see what he can do and how it turns out. Then I?ll make a determination at that time."
Frye said he hasn?t taken his hand out of the brace, but he will try to practice Wednesday.
"I think it will be unfair for me to sit out all week and try to play, then give Derek some late notice," he said.
Frye has been the starter since Week 13 of last season. Anderson won the backup job over Ken Dorsey during this past preseason, and he has played well in six quarters, throwing for 447 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Browns lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-7 on Thursday in Anderson?s first start, but his decent performance, coupled with the offense?s struggles under Frye, raised questions about whether the team should make a change.
Roye done for the season

Starting defensive end Orpheus Roye will miss the remainder of the season with a sprained knee ligament. The team placed him on injured reserve.
Roye was one of the team?s most consistent defensive players despite an injuryplagued season. He finished with 38 tackles and one sack.
"It was a team call," Roye said. "All I can do is what they tell me, and they told me they were putting me on IR. So I?ve just got to do rehab and try to get ready for next year. The injury (to the medial collateral ligament) is a little more severe than what it was last year."
Roye played through meniscus damage in a knee last year. Simon Fraser, who started the past two games, will replace him in the lineup.
Russell also finished

Safety Brian Russell remained hospitalized yesterday because of an elbow injury, a likely recurrence of a skin staph infection that doctors believed they had removed from his arm during surgery more than three months ago.
The Browns sent out a news release saying Russell had been placed on injured reserve, ending his season.
Russell has been in the Cleveland Clinic since Thursday.
The Browns have had at least five known cases of staph the past two seasons.
New tricks

Cleveland?s coaching staff counted nine or 10 dropped passes against Pittsburgh.
Crennel said he might try a new technique in practice: painting the football to help receivers keep their eyes on the ball.
"I?d spoken to somebody that said we can put dots on the ball, numbers on the panel, and make them call out the number before they catch them and things like that," Crennel said. "? But we?re going to try to get them to concentrate."

 

[k_stone_69]

Wow BP has a browns thread? JK

I have been a life long Browns fan, grew up watching Brian Sipe then Bernie Kosar. I watched the 1986 playoff run in the stands of Municipal Stadium, yeah that Municipal Stadium. I watched Bernie bring the Browns back from ten down in the fourth against the Jets and win in double OT. The following week I left the stadium with as much disappointment as I had joy the previous weekend as John Elway drove 98 yards right through our hearts.

I feel now I must bitch about these clowns. There are only two seasons I can think of in the past 15 years that are meaningful, 1999 and 2002.

These guys stink and are getting worse as the season goes. KC took them a for granted, got trapped and lost. The Browns still nearly gave that one away in the end. Their performance against the Bengals was PUTRID and this last display against the Steelers is an all time low.

I don't see it getting better anytime soon, or ever for that matter.

It's obvious this organization has given up on their fans, so I am officially giving up on them too.

If Troy ends up on the Browns roster next year....


PLEASE GOD DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!!!!!!

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns? Shaffer trying to live up to contract
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

BROWNS AT RAVENS 1 p.m. Sunday
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
TV WOIO, Channel 19


BEREA Steve Largent, who had Hall of Fame hands, came out of the University of Tulsa. So did Bingo Smith, whose No. 7 hangs from the rafters at The Q.
The Browns need left tackle Kevin Shaffer to be the next great thing from the famed petroleum engineering school. After all, they've promised him $36 million, three times the infamous buyout received by former Tulsa Rogers High School coach Butch Davis.
Know this about the 26-year-old Shaffer: His family may never be hungry, but he is.
"I want a Pro Bowl. I want a Super Bowl," he said. "They're both very important. I want 'em both before I'm done."
He says it with conviction, knowing circumstantial evidence makes him guilty by association with a bad 2006.
The Browns are 4-9. Charlie Frye has been sacked 43 times. The rushing offense is ranked just a short swim north of the South Pole.
But give Shaffer credit for a whiff of progress, too.
In the last two games, in which Frye has played a half and Derek Anderson has been in for six quarters, the offensive line has given up one sack.
General Manager Phil Savage, who took a gamble after Shaffer started just two seasons in Atlanta, has been careful in talking about Shaffer.
n Here's Savage after six games, at which point Jeff Davidson replaced Mo Carthon as coordinator: "Kevin has actually done an adequate job. He had that holding penalty that kind of set the stage in the first game. After that, he's played pretty well overall."
n Here's Savage after 11 games, coming off a 30-0 loss to the Bengals: "Kevin Shaffer is playing left tackle right now, and based on the options we had last year, we felt like he was a good choice. There have been stretches this year where he has played pretty good football.
"For the most part, I think he's been adequate."
Sounds like a "C."
From his locker this week, Shaffer assessed his play: "I think I've progressively gotten better. I had a rocky start. Coming into a new system, I know that happens.
"For a while, I was the new guy trying to catch up. Left tackle is a tough position to do that. I feel pretty confident in the way I've been playing the last while, after the first two games.
"I feel like I'm starting to be a pretty strong player. I need to keep pushing with that."
BUTCH PASSED
Shaffer and center LeCharles Bentley became the most expensive offensive linemen in Browns history when they signed as free agents in March. Both got $36 million deals, with Bentley's spread over six years, one less than Shaffer's.
Fans embraced the Bentley signing because he has been a Pro Bowler at guard and center. They questioned Shaffer, because ... who was he?
The Browns had a crack at Shaffer in the seventh round in 2002, but Butch Davis preferred tackle Joaquin Gonzalez with the No. 227 pick. Shaffer went to the Falcons at No. 244.
Shaffer got in six games as a rookie, started eight games in his second year and was a full-time Atlanta starter in 2004 and '05.
He blocked for Michael Vick. Because Vick is a lefty who sets up opposite of righties, Shaffer was not protecting the blind side. Savage had to project how Shaffer would fare at protecting the blind sides of Cleveland's right-handed QBs.
"I didn't really have a big name," Shaffer said, "but every GM knows who every left tackle is."
'HAD NO IDEA'
Shaffer guessed low as to what he might be worth on the 2006 open market.
"All of a sudden, my agent said, 'No, Kevin, the market is huge. This is what you're gonna get.' He was pretty much right on," Shaffer said.
"I had to condition myself to start hearing those numbers. Going in as a seventh-round pick, my signing bonus was $26,500."
Shaffer maintains the view that draft status disappears once a player makes a team and becomes a starter. At 26, he takes heart in his mix of youth - he'll turn 27 in March - and growing experience.
Shaffer won't be 30 until the fifth year of his contract.
"I feel real confident about my play," Shaffer said. "I feel like, now that I've been in the system a little bit, I'm just gonna go up and ... I'll shoot for that Pro Bowl."

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Playing for pride all that's left
JEFF SCHUDEL, Morning Journal Writer
12/13/2006

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BEREA -- Browns coach Romeo Crennel made a bold statement in his press conference Monday as he simultaneously reflected on the 27-7 loss to Pittsburgh last Thursday while looking ahead to Sunday when the Browns play the Ravens in Baltimore.


''I think we'll have a better result on the road this week than we had last week,'' he said.

Crennel was asked what makes him confident the Browns will play better. The Ravens are 10-3 and in first place in the AFC North. The Steelers are 6-7 and on life support in the playoff race.

''It wouldn't take a lot to play better, would it?'' Crennel asked. ''These guys work hard and they compete. I think they'll be able to put the last game behind them and move on. The season isn't over and we still have games to play. I expect them to play and give me their best effort for the remainder of the season.''

The Steelers rolled up 528 yards of offense, 303 of them on the ground, while humiliating the Browns on national television. The Browns compounded their problems trying to penetrate the Pittsburgh defense by dropping anywhere between seven to 10 passes, depending on who was critiquing the performance. Crennel said ''nine or 10'' passes were dropped.

When Derek Anderson hit Braylon Edwards with a touchdown pass with 5:20 to play -- against the Steelers second-team defense -- it ended a string of 11 straight quarters without an offensive touchdown.

The Browns were at this point of the season before. On Nov. 26 they played a stinker while losing 30-0 to the Bengals. The performance between the lines was overshadowed by Braylon Edwards' rant caught on camera. The stories that followed dealt more with how much control Crennel had over his team than they did about how poorly the Browns played.

Two days before the Browns played the Chiefs the following week, general manager Phil Savage announced Crennel's job was safe. The Browns bounced back from the Cincinnati game by beating the Chiefs 31-28 in overtime.

Crennel does not agree with the notion the Browns were playing for his job when they beat Kansas City.

Whatever button needs pushing, Crennel has only a few more days to find it. The Browns are 0-5 in the AFC North this season and have to beat the Ravens to avoid going winless in their division for the first time in franchise history.

''I don't think they were playing for my job, whatever the perception is,'' Crennel said. ''Hopefully, next time they'll play for themselves and play better. In the future, I hope we don't have to get them back and we're up all the time.''

The Browns are 4-9, which means in three more games they will conclude their seventh losing season in eight years. Beating the Ravens would be difficult for the Browns under normal circumstances, and now they are facing the Ravens without starting safety Brian Russell (elbow) and left defensive end Orpheus Roye (knee). Both players were put on injured reserve Monday.

''I think it boils down to pride,'' wide receiver Joe Jurevicius said. ''All of us wear a name on the back of our jerseys and if you don't have pride in that, we have issues. I have pride in my last name and I'm being paid a lot of money to play the game I love. It's the least I can do.

''We have a challenge in front of us. We have to do things on a consistent basis and when opportunities arrive, take advantage of those opportunities. It's not rocket science. It's football. If you have pride in what you do, you can do the little things right and the big things will come along.''

Jurevicius said playing for his hometown Browns is important, but he had the same attitude when he was with the Giants, Buccaneers and Seahawks, he said.

Staph for Russell

The Browns yesterday confirmed safety Brian Russell has a staph infection in his right elbow. A team spokesman said it is a different type than the staph that infected the same elbow in August and that it is not the most serious MRSA variety of staph.

The Browns are hopeful Russell will be discharged from The Cleveland Clinic by the end of this week.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Parity or not, awful moves can still sink NFL teams

By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer

Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ever wonder why some NFL teams stay bad even though the league is designed to promote parity?
It's all about decisions.
Take the Houston Texans, who passed up running back Reggie Bush and took defensive end Mario Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent college draft.
Some are calling it the worst decision in NFL history, which would make it worse than the Browns trading Paul Warfield for Mike Phipps, so I don't know if that's true.
And now we have Charley Casserly, the former Texans personnel guy, offering "expert" commentary on one of the networks. He shouldn't be on TV, he should be in witness protection.
Bush's jersey sales are No. 1 in the league, by the way, so the Texans not only denied themselves one of the more exciting players to come along in years, but also a marketing bonanza. And, of course, they remain win-challenged.
Then there's the Browns, whose horrible personnel decisions over the last eight years could fill a library. It's painful for Browns fans to watch LaDainian Tomlinson, who Butch Davis could have selected with the No. 3 overall pick in 2001, setting touchdown records and racing toward the Hall of Fame.
The Texans and Browns, the two most recent expansion entries, play in Houston on New Year's Eve. They seem to play every year, usually toward the end of the season when all hope has been drained.
Somehow it only seems fitting.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Starting quarterback unclear as lost season winds down

Associated Press

Thursday, December 14, 2006
BEREA ? The Browns are losing players to injury, taking a look at their rookies and trying to find motivation to finish the season.
It's just another December in Cleveland.
Coach Romeo Crennel said he doesn't know who the starting quarterback will be Sunday when the Browns face Baltimore and get their last chance to avoid going winless inside their division. Crennel also has decisions to make at several other positions and could be looking to rookies at linebacker, guard and wide receiver to fill in for injured or underperforming players.
Charlie Frye was listed as questionable Wednesday with a bruised right wrist that's been in a splint. Crennel will likely keep the Ravens guessing with Frye's status unclear.
"We'll go out there and see if he can take a snap and throw the football," Crennel said. "Then we'll make a determination from there."
If Derek Anderson gets a second start Sunday, it will give him the chance to beat the team that drafted him in the sixth round in 2005 but waived him several months later. The Browns quickly claimed him.
"He's smart and we really would have liked to have kept him," Ravens coach Brian Billick said.
"We got to the point where we had to make some decisions. We were hoping to get him to the practice squad, but as typical, that tends to get raided."
Anderson said he was happy to land on the Browns' active roster and doesn't hold a grudge against Baltimore.
"I saw the business side of this game early in my career. That's the way it works," Anderson said.

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Anderson likely to start again

With Frye still injured, Ravens' sixth-round draft pick prepares to face former team

By Patrick McManamon

Beacon Journal sportswriter

BEREA - Charlie Frye walked out to practice Wednesday looking like a man who will not play Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.
Frye had his right wrist in the same soft brace he's been wearing since he was hurt Dec. 3, and he was tossing the ball left-handed. Which means Derek Anderson almost certainly gets to face the team that drafted him.
Anderson was the Ravens' sixth-round draft pick a year ago. He made the team, but spent just two games with the Ravens (he was inactive for one).
The Ravens released him and planned to bring him back to the practice squad.
But Browns General Manager Phil Savage had scouted Anderson and liked him. He foiled the Ravens' plans and claimed Anderson on waivers before Baltimore could re-sign him.
``It seems that the Browns are going to grab everybody we put out there... so it wasn't a surprise,'' Ravens coach Brian Billick said.
``I saw the business side of this game a little earlier in my career than I would like,'' Anderson said. ``But that's the way it works.''
Anderson wasn't griping, just stating reality.
Just like he wasn't laying any claim to the Browns' starting quarterback job after six quarters of sound play.
In 1 ? games, Anderson has completed 57 percent of his throws (with many passes dropped against the Pittsburgh Steelers) for 447 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
His rating: a more than respectable 84.5.
Baltimore's Steve McNair has many more starts than Anderson this season, but his rating is 83.1.
Coach Romeo Crennel agreed that Anderson's play is ``intriguing.''
Billick called Anderson ``very efficient.''
``He's made good plays,'' Billick said. ``He sees the field really well, finds the open receiver and seems to be very comfortable back there. He doesn't seem panicked, and I am very impressed with what I've seen so far.''
Anderson's most impressive trait has been his ability to stand in the pocket and find receivers.
Anderson also has shown an uncanny ability to avoid being sacked. In six quarters, he has been sacked once.
The Steelers -- a notoriously fierce pass-rushing team -- barely got a hand on him.
Frye attributed that partly to the fact that the Steelers played without safety Troy Polamalu and they weren't taking many chances.
Anderson said the Steelers called off the blitz once they got ahead.
``I'd have to talk to Pittsburgh to try to answer that one,'' Crennel said. ``I think Derek was anticipating pressure and we emphasized that he needed to get rid of the ball.
``He made a conscientious effort to do that.''
Emphasizing it and doing it are different things, though.
``Pittsburgh got close to him,'' Crennel said. ``They didn't knock him down. Some of that has to do with his history, too. He's been a pocket passer his whole career.
``He understands about operating in the pocket and getting rid of the ball.''
Missing the game will be tough for Frye. He beat the Ravens in the season finale a year ago, and had the Browns in position to beat them in the third game of this season.
But a late interception in the end zone allowed Baltimore to drive for the game-winning field goal. In that game, Frye was pounded mercilessly by the Ravens' defense. One memorable hit saw Adalius Thomas venture clean up the middle and lift Frye off his feet before planting him.
That was one of the worst beatings Frye took, but it also left the Ravens marveling at his toughness.
This week, Anderson gets the chance. And Crennel, a former defensive coordinator, admitted that defenses will have an easier time defending Anderson now that they've seen him play a full game.
Not that Baltimore needs much help: The Ravens lead the NFL in total defense and rank second in rushing defense.
And... their 46 sacks rank second in the league.

 

[osugrad21]

Canton


Browns: Anderson returns to Baltimore
Thursday, December 14, 2006
By Steve Doerschuk repository sports writer

BROWNS AT RAVENS Sunday, 1 p.m.
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
TV Channel 19


BEREA Derek Anderson sat through the 2005 draft taking heavy doses of humility.
On Saturday of that weekend, Paul Tagliabue called the names of six quarterbacks, including Charlie Frye. Anderson assumed too many interceptions at Oregon State kept his phone silent.
"Some of it was immaturity, just forcing balls into places I had no business going," Anderson said. "A lot of times, we were coming from behind."
On Day 2, four more quarterbacks were announced. Among them were Stefan Lefors and Dan Orlovsky.
Finally, the Ravens spent a sixth-round pick, No. 213, on Anderson - 10 spots after Cleveland picked Andrew Hoffman and four spots before the Browns added Jon Dunn.
In other words, Anderson's NFL point of entry was the middle of nowhere.
"Once the draft is over," Anderson said, "you're on a team, and it really doesn't matter."
He knows better. Getting picked in the sixth round rather than, say, the third, completely changed his geography. Anderson plugged into the Ravens, made friends and enticed Brian Billick to give him a long look in the '05 preseason.
Anderson went 11-of-21 for 181 yards in three games and led a comeback victory to make the roster.
"We thought we had a steal," Ravens linebacker Bart Scott said. "Derek was a guy with poise in the pocket who could make essentially every throw. A nice tall guy ... you didn't have to worry about a lot of tipped balls."
'UPSET, OBVIOUSLY'
The Ravens got waxed, 24-7, at home by Indianapolis in their opener. Starting QB Kyle Boller was hurt, leaving only young veteran Anthony Wright and Anderson in reserve.
Before Game 2, the Ravens signed veteran Kordell Stewart. Then, after a 25-10 loss to the Titans, General Manager Ozzie Newsome concluded he couldn't carry four QBs.
Anderson says Newsome told him, "We're gonna put you on waivers and hopefully get you on the practice squad."
Phil Savage, Newsome's former righthand man in Baltimore, had a thorough scouting file on Anderson. As Cleveland's new GM, Savage lit up when he read the waiver wire.
Anderson said Newsome approached him again to say, "Uh, Phil's on the phone."
On Sept. 20, 2005, Anderson spent his last day as a Raven. Sept. 21 was his first day as a Brown.
"I was little upset, obviously," Anderson says. "You'd always rather be active on somebody's roster than on a practice squad, but ... I had some good buddies there. We had a good relationship.
"I saw the business side of this game a little too early."
Billick took a little shot at Savage as recently as Wednesday, saying of losing Anderson: "It seems that the Browns are going to grab everybody we put out there anyways, so it wasn't a surprise."
PAYBACK FACTOR
Now, it's late in the 2006 season. The Ravens will try to clinch the AFC North title with Anderson likely starting against them. Would he like to stick it to them?
"I wouldn't say it's a grudge," Anderson said, "but I enjoy playing the game and ... of course I'd like to."
With that, he chuckled.
The Browns are in the serious business of deciding where Anderson stands in relation to Charlie Frye and whether either or both make drafting say, Troy Smith, a misfit option.
In warmups for practice Wednesday, Anderson took snaps from No. 1 center Hank Fraley. Backup QB Ken Dorsey took snaps from No. 2 center Lennie Friedman.
Frye, likely to miss a second straight game with a wrist injury, watched in a sweatsuit.
In two games, Anderson has come off as an accurate passer with a knack for getting the ball 20 yards downfield on a bee-line. He seems comfortable with mounting attention.
When someone asked if being 6-foot-6 lends to staying in the pocket because he can see over linemen, he said, "My lack of 4.3 speed lends to that."
Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: [email protected]