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9/15/05
9/15/05
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Browns-Packers: Players and Strategy
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</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By NFL Scout
Date: Sep 15, 2005
Notes on how the Browns will approach Sunday's game and how players will be used...
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STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Reuben Droughns was named the Browns' starting running back, ending any debate about William Green and Droughns sharing the ball. Green will get a few chances, but only to give Droughns a breather if the Browns are able to string long drives together.
"Reuben has a foot up on William," Coach Romeo Crennel said, inferring that Droughns has to have more games like he did against the Bengals - 12 carries for 78 yards plus three catches for 22 yards - to get a 'leg up' on Green.
Green ran strong in the first three preseason games, but he did a poor job avoiding tacklers in the final preseason game and in the four carries he had against the Bengals.
GAME PLAN
The Lions put pressure on Brett Favre and the Browns would love to do the same. It would mean pressuring from the inside where Favre is trying to cope with the loss of guards Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera in free agency.
The Browns were reluctant to blitz last week against Carson Palmer and might be even more gun-shy against a 15-year veteran, but blitzing might be their only chance to get to Favre.
Last week Trent Dilfer threw 43 passes. Coach Romeo Crennel does not want that to happen again if it can be helped. If Reuben Droughns can get 20 to 25 carries it means the Browns are playing ball-control offense, which they want to do.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Browns RB Reuben Droughns, who describes himself as a downhill runner, vs. LB Nick Barnett, the Packers' leading tackler the last two seasons: By his own admission, Droughns does not wiggle to make tacklers miss. He needs a good initial block and if he gets it he is difficult to bring down because he is a powerful runner.
Browns LT L.J. Shelton, a bulldozing run blocker, vs. Packers DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who has 49 sacks in four season: The Browns did not allow a sack last week. That mark will be tested in Green Bay. Shelton has to avoid holding penalties that can kill drives. Trent Dilfer could use three-step drops to frustrate the pass rush.
INJURY IMPACT
TE Aaron Shea is listed as questionable for the second straight week, but once again he cannot lift his right arm. Joshua Cribbs is out with a sprained left MCL. He is the Browns' best kick returner and also one of the gunners on punt coverage. Rookie Antonio Perkins will return kicks. The gunner replacement has not been announced...LB Matt Stewart is out with a sprained right MCL. Chaun Thompson will replace him in the lineup. Stewart is not expected to return until Oct. 9 at the earliest.
PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES
BROWNS-PACKERS FACTOIDS
- RB Lee Suggs is practicing, but he might not play until after the bye. He has been out for nearly a month with a sprained ankle and Crennel says Suggs will have to get his conditioning back.
- CB Gary Baxter returned to full practice for the first time since suffering a concussion Aug. 20. He has had some memory problems since the injury and is concerned about remembering the play called.
- TE Aaron Shea is listed as questionable with a pectoral strain and did not practice. He still does not have full use of his right arm.
- LB Matt Stewart is week to week with a sprained right MCL. The Browns are considering bringing in another linebacker but are holding off that decision for now.
- KR Joshua Cribbs is listed as week to week with a sprained left MCL. Rookie Antonio Perkins is replacing him on kick returns.
- DE Orpheus Roye has a hyper-extended left knee that limited him in practice, but he is expected to start against the Packers.
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- It is the 16th meeting between the clubs. The Green Bay Packers lead the series 9-6 and have a 4-2 advantage in Green Bay. The Browns have not won in Green Bay since a 24-7 victory Nov. 4, 1956. The have been to Green Bay four times since and lost each time.
- Rookie quarterback Charlie Frye was nine years old when Packers quarterback Brett Favre was a rookie with the Falcons in 1991.
- Jim Brown's final NFL game was against the Packers in the NFL championship game played Jan. 2, 1966. The Packers held him to 50 yards on 12 carries.
- Packers defensive coordinator Jim Bates got his NFL coaching start with the Browns under Bill Belichick.
- The Browns have played the Packers once since returning to the NFL in 1999, a 30-7 loss in Green Bay. The lasting memory from that game was Jamel White rushing for 131 yards on 26 carries, by far his best game with the Browns.
- Fifteen Browns are in the Hall of Fame. The Packers with 20 are one of four teams with more H.O.F. representatives. The others are the Bears with 26, the Steelers with 17 and the Giants with 16.
- BY THE NUMBERS: 2-7 - Trent Dilfer has that record as a starting quarterback against the Packers. He has not faced them in a starting role since his final year with the Buccaneers in 1999.
- QUOTE TO NOTE: "I've seen that offense too many times. Those guys are capable of lighting it up if you don't play a good game against them." -- Browns safety Brian Russell, formerly of the Vikings, when asked if the Packer offense has lost some punch.
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Loss of Stewart Increases Challenge
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Matt Stewart
</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By NFL Scout
Date: Sep 15, 2005
The Browns are will have to continue to learn the 3-4 defense without the experienced Matt Stewart. Despite losing the linebacker to an MCL, the team is focused on continuing to make progress with the
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After allowing the Bengals 420 total yards and Rudi Johnson 126 yards rushing, the Browns are preparing to face the Packers and their best running back, Ahman Green, with a depleted linebacking corps.
Matt Stewart, versatile enough to play either outside linebacking spot or inside with Andra Davis, will miss the game Sunday in Lambeau Field and most likely a few more games because of sprained right MCL suffered in the first quarter of the season opener.
"Matt is very smart and he plays fundamentally sound," said rookie Nick Speegle, who is getting more reps because of Stewart's injury. "He's not as big as the other linebackers but he can take on a block and force it back in the hole or he can drop back in pass coverage.
"I think he's a great linebacker. He's one guy I look up to because he can play both sides. It's going to be hard to replace him, but we have to move on."
This is an obstacle Coach Romeo Crennel did not expect to be in his way as he tries to reshape the Browns. He said in preseason, when he called his relationship with players "a honeymoon," that the test would come when the losses started adding up. The Browns are 0-1 and facing a Packers team that lost 17-3 in Detroit last week. Never in Brett Favre's previous 225 consecutive starts did the Packers score as few as three points.
Crennel has no plans to alter the course he set out on when he was named Browns head coach Feb. 8. He is convinced the 3-4 defense will work, even though the Stewart injury is a critical loss; he was the most experienced Browns player in the 3-4 because he played it in Atlanta before signing with the Browns as a free agent.
"After one game, if I go in there and say, 'OK, guys, this 3-4 sucks, so I'm throwing it out,' and after another game, 'Hey, this new defense I put in last week sucks, so I'm throwing that out,' then they don't have a system, they don't have a defense and they don't know what to hang their hat on," Crennel said. "We're going to try to hang our hat on the things that we know work and we're going to work to get it done. I think these players will work with us to do that.
"Staying the course, to a degree, can solidify the locker room. You don't want to be helter-skelter."
Crennel said it is up to him as head coach to deliver the message about staying the course, but it helps that guard Joe Andruzzi and cornerback Ray Mickens have been on teams on which Crennel was an assistant coach. And even though Andruzzi plays offense, he is championing Crennel's cause.
From the beginning, Andra Davis has followed Crennel. None of this is to imply there is grumbling in the locker room, but Davis and his teammates are happy to know Crennel is not panicking after one bad game. This is a team with 28 players on the roster that were not on the team at the end of the 2004 season.
Davis is convinced the defense is good enough to win, as long as the players do what they're coached to do.
"We have to go back to the drawing board," Davis said. "We know the system works. They've used it in Pittsburgh for years and Romeo made it work in New England. When you look at that team you don't see a lot of superstars.
"We gave up too many easy plays against Cincinnati. We can't do that this week or the same thing will happen."
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<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width="98%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Thompson Steps Up
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</TD><TD noWrap width=3></TD><TD vAlign=top>By Fred Greetham
Date: Sep 14, 2005
From Berea, Fred Greetham reports on Chaun Thompson's increased role with the loss of LB Matt Stewart...
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BEREA – With the knee injury to linebacker Matt Stewart, the Browns linebacker corps becomes even thinner in the experience department.
Chaun Thompson, who tracked down Carson Palmer in last week’s game and forced a fumble, will be counted upon even more to make those types of big plays.
“That type of play is me,” Thompson said. “I do it in practice all the time. The guys up front had a good push in the middle of the field and they flushed (Palmer) out of the pocket and I made the play.”
Thompson will make his first start of the season at right outside linebacker. Thompson had six tackles last week against the Bengals, including a sack. He also had a pressure, a forced fumble and he broke up a pass.
Thompson is in his third year after being the team’s second-round draft choice in 2003 out of West Texas A & M. Thompson had 80 tackles last season with 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Thompson started 13 games last season.
Thompson’s speed and athleticism is expected to help him in the 3-4 scheme.
“Chaun has always flashed,” Romeo Crennel said. “He’s got good abilities and can chase. On his chase play he caused a fumble. He’s learning the defense and I still believe he’ll be a good player for us.”
With Stewart injured, Thompson will be counted upon to make plays.
“I’m anxious to get more opportunities,” Thompson said.
Many felt Thompson was drafted too highly by Butch Davis and Thompson has been motivated to show that he belongs.
“I’ve been trying to prove that since day one,” he said. “That continues to motivate me and drive me.”
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