Cleveland Browns (2008 Season)

[LitlBuck]

PD

Browns Insider: Ryan Tucker ready to start at tackle
by Mary Kay Cabot
Tuesday October 07, 2008, 5:24 AM

Ryan Tucker, who's missed the first four games with a hip injury, appears primed to start at right tackle for the Browns this week in place of Kevin Shaffer, who suffered a concussion against the Bengals, at least the third of his career.

"I just want to get back on the field," said Tucker, who underwent surgery to repair the fractured hip in mid-May. "I'm really excited about being back. Seems these past two years I've been taking these four-game breaks. I'm kind of sick of it. It does help me out at the end of the season, though, that's for sure."

Coach Romeo Crennel recently said Tucker had to regain confidence the hip was going to hold up before playing.

"Every week it's feeling more natural, more normal," Tucker said. "I'm really close right now. If I'm on the field, I'll be full speed. There won't be any excuses, that's for sure."

Shaffer said the main concern for him is he's had multiple concussions. He declined to specify how many, but said this one "is the same as all the other ones. They've all been decently mild. I've had some others in the past."

Jones progressing:

Safety Sean Jones (knee) said there's an outside chance of him playing against the Giants, but he's going to be smart and not rush it. He said the Giants game marks the fourth week of what was originally a three- to six-week injury. "The swelling is out and I'm running straight ahead," he said. "I've got to get back confidence and get back into football things."

Sanders released:

The team waived receiver Steve Sanders, terminated the practice squad contract of defensive back Travis Key and signed defensive back Hamza Abdullah to the active roster. Abdullah was most recently with the Denver Broncos and played at Washington State. Abdullah started the final eight games of the 2007 season.

Not healthiest:

Despite the return of Stallworth and McGinest and rest for others, Crennel wouldn't say this is the healthiest the Browns have been all season. "Even though we have more of a complement, we're still dealing with things with particular guys," he said.

 

[LitlBuck]

PD

Browns want to put Giants' preseason drubbing behind them
by Mary Kay Cabot
Tuesday October 07, 2008, 5:25 AM

The Browns can't wait for Monday night to try to avenge the Brown Pants Massacre on national television by the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

It was Aug. 18 during the preseason and the Browns -- debuting their bad-karma brown pants -- were so thoroughly beaten up and humiliated by the Giants during a 37-34 loss in front of millions on ESPN that they have yet to fully recover.

And the final score didn't do justice to the Giants' dominance.
It was the 30-3 margin early in the second quarter that told the true tale.

"We were embarrassed, especially it being on national television," receiver Joshua Cribbs said. "We want the win most of all, but we have that chip on our shoulder and we're looking for some payback."
Cribbs, who suffered a high ankle sprain in that preseason demolition, likened the rematch to how the Browns approached their 20-12 victory over the Bengals in Cincinnati last week.

"Last year, Cincinnati put us out of the playoffs and we took that to heart," Cribbs said. "We went at them hard and we've got to go at [the Giants] hard."

But the Giants are stronger since they rolled over the Browns at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

On Sunday, they battered the Seahawks, 44-6, to improve to 4-0, one of only two undefeated teams in the NFL. Against Seattle, they scored on their first six possessions and racked up 523 yards, including 254 rushing. With star receiver Plaxico Burress suspended - he'll return Monday night against the Browns - the backup receivers combined for three touchdown catches, including one by former Akron star Domenik Hixon, who burned the Browns for three TDs in that preseason debacle.

"The Giants are playing great football right now," center Hank Fraley said. "You could say they're the best team in the league."

So what happened on that balmy summer night in the Meadowlands, when the Giants scored four touchdowns and a safety in the span of 9:32 in the first half?

It was so bad that Browns General Manager Phil Savage referred to it as "that spell of five to 10 minutes where we lost our minds."

I think the worst thing about that game were the Browns worrying those brown pants:!. I certainly hope that they burned them.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Browns hope to avoid another Giant mess


By Tom Withers
Associated Press

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

BEREA ? The last time they played on a Monday night, the Cleveland Browns wore hideous brown pants unlikely to ever be seen again.
The fashion faux pas was hardly the most humiliating thing that happened.
The New York Giants made the Browns look silly on national TV.
"They embarrassed us," Cleveland linebacker Andra Davis said Monday. "So that's going to give us a little extra fire."
Back on Aug. 18, the defending Super Bowl champions scored 30 unanswered points in the first half ? 16 in a span of 76 seconds ? against the Browns in a preseason game. Cleveland (1-3) lost quarterback Derek Anderson to a concussion and four other starters to injuries that night and haven't been the same team since.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Browns' Cribbs ready to flash his old spark Standout kick returner says he's fit after ankle injury that slowed him
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 02:30 p.m. EDT, Oct 07, 2008
BEREA: Joshua Cribbs feels his flash is back, which could be good news for the struggling Browns.
Slated for a bigger role on offense this season, the Pro Bowl returner and receiver has been hampered by a high ankle sprain suffered in an Aug. 18 preseason game against the New York Giants.
The injury forced the former Kent State quarterback to sit out the opener against the Dallas Cowboys and limited his special teams duties when he returned Sept. 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But Cribbs showed a glimpse of his old self in the Browns' last game, a 20-12 victory over the Bengals on Sept. 28 at Cincinnati. He returned the opening kickoff of the second half 44 yards, his longest of the year.
Last weekend's bye also gave Cribbs time to rest other nagging injuries. He proclaimed himself fit and ready as the Browns (1-3) prepare to host the New York Giants (4-0) on Monday Night Football.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Tony Grossi's Scouting Report: New York Giants

by Tony Grossi Tuesday October 07, 2008, 6:38 PM


Bill Kostroun/Associated PressA balanced and productive Giants offense is built around a thundering running game which is shared by Brandon Jacobs (27), Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. Meanwhile, quarterback Eli Manning (10) has become increasingly consistent in the passing game.
The season was in dire straits. Early losses had the team in turmoil. The young quarterback was getting beat up in the papers. The head coach wouldn't survive the season, everyone thought. Sound familiar?
The team was the New York Giants last year. They wound up winning the Super Bowl.
"It's a long season and a lot of things can happen," Giants General Manager Jerry Reese said over the telephone on Tuesday. "Things break differently to send you spinning out of control or on a winning streak. That's why you prepare to win every week."
This example and Reese's message should be sources of inspiration to the Browns, who face similar challenges to those overcome by the Giants last year. The teams play Monday night in Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The Giants entered 2007 with high expectations. Then they promptly lost their first two games and were losing Game 3 in Washington, 17-3, before they pulled ahead. In the final minute, the Redskins had first-and-goal at the Giants 1 and a chance to tie. They didn't score.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns want to put Giants' preseason drubbing behind them

by Mary Kay Cabot Tuesday October 07, 2008, 5:25 AM

AP PhotoThe Browns played as bad as they looked in those browns pants against the Giants in the preseason.


The Browns can't wait for Monday night to try to avenge the Brown Pants Massacre on national television by the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. It was Aug. 18 during the preseason and the Browns -- debuting their bad-karma brown pants -- were so thoroughly beaten up and humiliated by the Giants during a 37-34 loss in front of millions on ESPN that they have yet to fully recover.
And the final score didn't do justice to the Giants' dominance.
It was the 30-3 margin early in the second quarter that told the true tale.
"We were embarrassed, especially it being on national television," receiver Joshua Cribbs said. "We want the win most of all, but we have that chip on our shoulder and we're looking for some payback."
Cribbs, who suffered a high ankle sprain in that preseason demolition, likened the rematch to how the Browns approached their 20-12 victory over the Bengals in Cincinnati last week.
"Last year, Cincinnati put us out of the playoffs and we took that to heart," Cribbs said. "We went at them hard and we've got to go at [the Giants] hard."
But the Giants are stronger since they rolled over the Browns at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Browns Insider: Ryan Tucker ready to start at tackle

by Mary Kay Cabot Tuesday October 07, 2008, 5:24 AM

Tracy Boulian/The Plain DealerRyan Tucker is expected to take over for Kevin Shaffer at right tackle for the Browns on Monday night.
Ryan Tucker, who's missed the first four games with a hip injury, appears primed to start at right tackle for the Browns this week in place of Kevin Shaffer, who suffered a concussion against the Bengals, at least the third of his career. "I just want to get back on the field," said Tucker, who underwent surgery to repair the fractured hip in mid-May. "I'm really excited about being back. Seems these past two years I've been taking these four-game breaks. I'm kind of sick of it. It does help me out at the end of the season, though, that's for sure."

Coach Romeo Crennel recently said Tucker had to regain confidence the hip was going to hold up before playing.
"Every week it's feeling more natural, more normal," Tucker said. "I'm really close right now. If I'm on the field, I'll be full speed. There won't be any excuses, that's for sure."
Shaffer said the main concern for him is he's had multiple concussions. He declined to specify how many, but said this one "is the same as all the other ones. They've all been decently mild. I've had some others in the past."
He said he suffered the current one when he was on the ground in Cincinnati "and somebody was going to jump over me and kicked me in the back of the head. That's how I've gotten other ones."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

For Browns, it's all about holding the line
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

BEREA First, the Browns tried to get the expansion era off the ground by drafting defensive linemen.

Spending Nos. 1 and 3 overall picks on Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren got them through their three head coaches on a bridge to nowhere.

Now, a different Browns regime is collecting other teams' defensive linemen. If the 2008 season is to be saved, this method has to work.

In 2008, Phil Savage traded for Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams, a year after hitting the free agency market to acquire Shaun Smith and Robaire Smith. Savage also dipped into the 2007 reclamation pond to get Rams castoff Louis Leonard.

Even with Robaire Smith on injured reserve, the line has had two strong games with Rogers starting at nose tackle, Williams and Shaun Smith starting at end, and Leonard growing into the rotation.

The massive Rogers is doing what was advertised, playing like a monster in the middle. Now, it's Williams' turn to make a dent.

Savage went out on a limb to get Williams, trading a second-round pick to the Packers.

Williams isn't giving the Browns that kind of juice at this point, but he's dripping with optimism.

"Shaun and I are starting to get closer and closer, and we're starting to play off each other a lot," Williams said. "When we first got here, we were kind of two different types of players.

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns Notebook: Objective: Stop Jacobs
Giants' bruising back has been dominant
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
By STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

BEREA When they say Giants, they aren't kidding.

New York running back Brandon Jacobs stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 260 pounds, which means the Browns' "Monday Night Football" task includes dealing with one of the biggest feature backs in NFL history.

"He does have moves," linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said, "but he's pretty much going to try to run you over."

He's big. He's fast. He's the star of nightmares running between the earholes of the Seattle Seahawks.

The Giants are coming off a huge win over Seattle ? not because it was Seattle, but because the score was 44-7. Jacobs battered the Seahawks with 15 rushes for 136 yards and two pile-driving touchdowns.

"It's gonna be important that we all wrap up," said Jackson, the Browns' leading tackler. "If we can get our hands on the football ... he coughed it up the first time we played him."

That's one of the few things the Browns remember about a preseason loss to the Giants without cringing. Cleveland trailed, 30-3, at one point.

The Browns have been searching for the light ever since, and now they must contain Jacobs to avoid the darkness of a 1-4 start.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Browns looking for turnaround


By Tom Withers
Associated Press

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

BEREA ? Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards pressed play on the compact stereo system in his locker and suddenly the room filled with that signature song.
First, the horns: Bum, bum, ba-da-da, bum, bum. Then, Sinatra.
"Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today," belted Ol' Blue Eyes. "I want to be a part of it ... New York, New York."
"All right," quarterback Brady Quinn said. "I've been waiting for some Sinatra all day."
The Browns, who have an upcoming Monday night game against the unbeaten Giants (4-0), are in a New York state of mind this week.
They see the defending Super Bowl champions as role models. The Browns (1-3) believe they can rebound from a disastrous start, renew confidence in their shaken quarterback, take the heat off their embattled coach, turn their season around with a long winning streak and hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Why not? The Giants did it.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

Can Browns stand up to a Giants challenge?

by Tony Grossi Wednesday October 08, 2008, 7:59 PM


Bill Kostroun/Associated PressBrandon Jacobs is just the best-known of the Giants' powerful and three-pronged running game. Jacobs and teammates Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward will test the Browns' rebuilt defensive line.
If they don't improve a lick over the next 12 games, the Browns' 22nd-ranked defense against the run would be their best standing in their expansion era. Residing near the bottom third of league is no reason to brag, of course. But when you've been 27th, 29th and 30th in the preceding three years, 22nd is rare air.
The addition of linemen Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers was supposed to have a domino effect on the defense, particularly against the run.
"To a degree, it's happened," coach Romeo Crennel said. "We have seen what impact Shaun can have on an offense. They have to double-team him, he makes tackles in the backfield. I think the inside linebackers have benefited from what he's able to do.
"Run defense is not just one person, it's several guys. But I think overall our run defense has improved. The numbers say what they say, but they're better than what they were last year and I think the guys are more confident in playing run defense."

The New York Giants now stampede into this story.
And stampede is what they do.
The Giants are first in the NFL in rushing -- by a mile. Their team average, which includes quarterback kneeldowns and such, is 5.8 yards a rush. Their true average is 6.1. That's the combined mark of a three-man rotation of Brandon Jacobs (5.8), Derrick Ward (6.6) and Ahmad Bradshaw (6.6).
"I've never known a team that had all their backs average over six yards a carry," said defensive lineman Shaun Smith. "That says a lot about their offensive linemen and their backs."

Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Edwards still confident
Wide receiver doesn't expect repeat of first game against Giants
Thursday, October 9, 2008
By STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

BEREA Start spreadin' the news. Braylon Edwards still plays for the Browns.

You wouldn't know it by his production, less than three catches a game for less than 25 yards a game during a 1-3 start.

But he's there, sounding surer of himself than ever, which is saying something for the most self-assured man with a parking pass at 76 Lou Groza Blvd.

And judging from his bounce in the locker room Wednesday, he even thinks he's still the one who went to the Pro Bowl after a Browns-record 1,289-receiving-yard season.

And get this: He's still having fun. To set the mood for the Giants' Monday Night Football invasion, he softly played Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" on his locker-room boom box before practice.

The Browns' offense has mostly looked bad; yet, the team is not in terrible shape in the standings. If the AFC is lumped together, the Browns are a game behind the Colts and Ravens, a half game behind the Chargers and Jaguars.

A win puts them at 2-3 and serves notice that Cleveland may not be dead.

"It puts us back in the mix," Edwards said. "There's a lot of up-and-down things happening. Everybody's really in the thick of things for the most part."
Cont....

 

[osugrad21]

Canton

Browns notebook: Numbers don't lie as Giants are heavy favorites
Thursday, October 9, 2008
BY STEVE DOERSCHUK
[email protected]

BEREA Why are the Giants heavy favorites in Monday night's game at Cleveland?

It's more obvious than: Why is it wet when it rains?

? The Browns are 0-2 at home this season.

The Giants are big, fat home wreckers. They were 11-1 away from home last year, including 4-0 in the postseason.

? The Browns are 1-3 in 2008 and have been outscored, on average, 19.5-11.5.

The Giants are 4-0 and are outscoring their victims 31.7-12.2.

? Romeo Crennel is 21-31 as an NFL head coach.

Tom Coughlin is 115-95.

? Crennel's 21-31 record comes from four years of trying to rebuild a program left by Butch Davis.

Coughlin took over an expansion team in Jacksonville. In his first four years he went 4-12, 9-7, 11-5 and 11-5 (combined 35-29).

? Giants quarterback Eli Manning has passed for 1,032 yards, with a 6-1 TDs-to-picks ratio and a 99.7 rating.

Browns QB Derek Anderson has passed for 537 yards, with a 3-6 TDs-to-picks ratio and a 49.9 rating.
Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Browns' Winslow misses practice

54 minutes ago
BEREA, Ohio (AP) ? The Cleveland Browns are sending tight end Kellen Winslow to the doctor for tests after he missed his second straight day of practice with an unspecified "illness."
Browns coach Romeo Crennel says Winslow has been sick for two days. Crennel would not say if he would play in Monday night's game against the New York Giants.
"He's a valuable piece to the puzzle," Crennel said Thursday. "I know he'll want to play, and he'll do everything he can to play."

Continued............

 

[LitlBuck]

"He's a valuable piece to the puzzle," Crennel said

I would say that is a vast understatement by Romeo. We don't stand much of a chance against the Giants anyway and without Winslow we really will be undermanned:(