DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum The Offensive Line, continued....

Cleveland Browns sign Anthony Fabiano to active roster

by Thomas Moore1 day ago
link


The Cleveland Browns made a pair of roster moves on Monday, signing Anthony Fabiano to the active roster and Zach Sterup to the practice squad.

The Cleveland Browns continued the offensive line churn on Monday, signing offensive lineman Anthony Fabiano to the active roster from the team’s practice squad.

In a related move, the Browns signed offensive lineman Zach Sterup to the practice squad after seeing the Carolina Panthers sign offensive lineman Dan France off of Cleveland’s practice squad.

The moves were announced on the team’s website.

The 6-foot-3 and 303-pound Fabiano originally signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent out of Harvard. (So no surprise how the Browns heard about him.) A versatile player, he made 29 starts for the Crimson along the offensive line, with 11 starts at left tackle, 10 at right guard, seven at left guard and one at right tackle.

According to his draft profile at NFL.com, Fabiano is an “athletic player who opened some eyes at his pro day with his speed and quickness. Quick lateral movement off the snap and can gain ground quickly to challenge on cross­-face blocks. Plays with desired bend and decent hand work. Draft stock could benefit from experience playing at multiple spots along the offensive line.”

Normally the promotion of a player from the practice squad to the active roster would cause a very minor ripple. But with the attrition rate along the offensive line this season – the Browns have already lost starting guards Joel Bitonio and John Greco, along with center Austin Reiter, to season-ending injuries; and had Cameron Erving miss games with an injury – it would not be a complete surprise to see Fabiano on the field as early as Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

And it was not that long ago that safety Ed Reynolds was biding his time on the practice squad and now he is a stabilizing presence in the secondary.

As for Sterup, the 6-foot-9 and 318-pound lineman was originally signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska, where he started 17 games. He worked in training camp at both left and right tackle with the Chiefs and spent time this season on the practice squads of both the Chiefs and New York Jets.

I'm wondering, we gonna see Cam Erving playing at RT?

Perhaps. I thought he moved around a bit this offseason. IMO, we have to find SOME way for Erving to be productive .... even if it's as a swing man backup

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_...factory-sadness


this article....man....i really feel bad for this dude.

How about bench anchor? He has stunk it up too long at center.

I was going to make a thread, but this seems as good a place as any to put this.

http://www.nfl.com/labs/sidelines/oline/desktop/offensive-lines.html

It's an article about the decline of offensive line play lately. Many of the things mentioned in there are things we regularly debate here (time to gel, practice time, $$$ to retain talent, etc). The thing I didn't see mention, which is interesting, is other positions talent/play affecting how the o-line performs.

They highlight Dallas, which isn't surprising, but they don't really go into a whole bunch of detail on the teams that (allegedly) don't have very good lines. They do mention how catastrophic injuries are the o-line, in that backups don't have many reps coming in, affecting the overall play of the whole line/offense.

if Cam Robinson is there when we pick with our second 1st round pick. I say we grab him.

I think some of our posters are too quick to judge. Our young players need time to develop like other teams players do. I want this team to win badly like everyone else but I'm willing to give it time. Some of our young guys are improving, albeit slowly, but they are making progress. If we have a solid draft in '17 and sign a FA or 2 we could really see a positive difference next year.

Pasztor can play at rg or lg and be just fine .. We have him, Greco and Bitonio , all fine Guards .. We are desperate for a Starting RT and Center ..

If our QBs would stop holding onto the ball for 10 seconds our line wouldn't look as bad..

what about when we run the ball? RB's get hit as soon as the ball is handed off.

If I'm a DC playing the Browns, I would put everything into playing the run.

And if we do happen to be passing, just triple cover Pryor and wait, because eventually after about 5-6 seconds, the QB will still be holding the ball, and no lineman should be asked to hold the ball that long..

The same thing happened when Shanahan was here, with Hoyer.

We got some bad injuries on the line, people keyed in the run, and our QB was never able to take advantage of it.

I know I'm over simplifying it.

But you out Tom Brady back there, and our line looks a lot better, so do our WRs, and then our running game would benefit..

home wood, i think you make an excellent point that fits nicely with something Mac said. truth is cam i think played very few games at center in college. his first year with us they tried to make him a jack of all trades lineman so he did little to improve his mastery of the center position. he may just need more time to develop his technique and strength to be a decent center. given all our glaring needs i would not draft a center high unless he is bpa at that point.

The offensive line is as important as ever in today's game -- so why is it so hard to build a good one?

Link


THE 2010 SEASON had just ended with a 6-10 record and Tony Romo's arm in a sling, the quarterback nursing a shattered clavicle. The Dallas Cowboys knew what they had to do.

The team historically had good offensive lines, populated by Pro Bowlers like Flozell Adams and Andre Gurode and Hall of Famer Larry Allen. But those players were aging out of the NFL -- if they weren't already gone -- and the Cowboys were paying a price with Romo's health. Determined to both keep the franchise quarterback upright and run the ball more efficiently to make life easier on him, the team's brain trust decided to invest in the offensive line.

With the ninth overall draft pick in 2011, the Cowboys made tackle Tyron Smith the first offensive lineman selected. Two years later, they grabbed center Travis Frederick in the first round, at No. 31 overall. A year after that, with Jerry Jones repeatedly pressing his draft room about the prospect of taking quarterback Johnny Manziel, the Cowboys held firm and selected guard Zack Martin at No. 16. There was a gasp in the green room at Radio City Music Hall that night, because the decision meant that Manziel, who seemed then to be the perfect fit for a team comfortable with glitz and headlines, would continue his plummet down the board.

It said something equally meaningful about the Cowboys.

America's Team had gone to the trenches.

*************************

FIVE YEARS after Smith became the first cornerstone, the Cowboys are 11-1 and have the game's most highly touted offensive line.

The plan put in place in the spring of 2011 has worked almost to the letter, with one unanticipated wrinkle. That line is protecting rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, who took over when Romo suffered his latest injury in the preseason. Prescott has played with such poise -- undoubtedly benefitting from the amount of time he has to make decisions in the pocket -- that a healthy Romo is now the backup. And the line is opening gaping holes for the league's leading rusher, rookie Ezekiel Elliott.

"That line came together quick," said Stephen Jones, the Cowboys' chief operating officer and director of player personnel. "It's certainly the centerpiece of this team. It's been a journey. I know we're glad we took the leap of faith and went down that road of doing the thing that is not necessarily the sexy thing to do."

It's not an easy thing to do, either. The league is littered with threadbare offensive lines -- shredded by injury or incompetence -- even on contending teams. The Panthers and Broncos, last year's Super Bowl teams, have two of the worst offensive lines in the league. The Vikings, who used five different starting-line combinations in their first nine games, are 6-6.

NFL.com Research created a system for ranking the league's offensive lines in four telling categories: rushing yards before contact per attempt, rushing yards per carry, quarterback hits allowed and sacks per pass play. By adding together their league-wide rankings in each category, it is easy to determine which are the best and worst. After the Week 13 games, with one month to go in the regular season, the rankings are no surprise.



The five best offensive lines are in Tennessee, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Oakland -- all teams in the thick of playoff races, with all but Green Bay leading or tied for the best record in their divisions. And the five lowest-ranked lines are in Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, Denver, Los Angeles and Minnesota. Indianapolis and Tampa Bay are tied for the best records in their divisions. The rest trail.

The takeaway: There are precious few offensive lines so good they can push a team to the playoffs, and there are many more that are so middling, their organizations must work around them to avoid being shoved backward in the standings.

That is ironic, because with scoring approaching its all-time high, the premium on having a solid offensive line should be similarly soaring. Back in 2009, Eric DeCosta, now the Ravens' assistant general manager, said that when the Giants used a ferocious pass rush to upset the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, it served as a wake-up call for the league -- a reminder that teams, even ones as explosive as that Patriots group was, have no chance to win if they can't protect the quarterback. (The Ravens took tackle Ronnie Stanley with the sixth overall pick this year.) But players, coaches and general managers point to a confluence of factors that they believe has made unearthing -- and then developing -- NFL offensive linemen more difficult than it has ever been, with the erratic results on Sundays to prove it.

"Do I believe it's any worse? Yeah," said LeCharles Bentley, a former guard and center for the New Orleans Saints who now trains college and NFL linemen at his Arizona-based O-Line Performance center. "Yes, frankly, the level of play in certain pockets has decreased, but the caveat to that is the demands of the schemes of what you're asking players to do is a bit more complex than it ever has been, as well. What we're asking players to do from a physical and, even more so, a mental standpoint ... It's a challenge."

After conversations with 20 players, coaches and general managers starting in training camp and stretching through the season, several common hurdles -- from when teams first start scouting college players to when those players become high-priced veterans and are sent packing -- emerged as the ones that might most be impeding offensive lines. Not even the game's most precious resource provides a sure safety net for teams trying for an upgrade. In a period spanning six drafts, the Rams used two No. 2 overall draft picks (in 2009 and 2014) on offensive tackles and still have one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Jason Smith ('09) lasted just three years with the Rams and is now out of the league entirely. Greg Robinson ('14) has been called for 22 enforced penalties in the last two years, the most of any offensive player during that span. He was a healthy scratch in Week 12, then returned in Week 13 -- and, yes, incurred a holding penalty that backed the Rams up from the doorstep of the red zone on one of their longest drives of the day.


WHEN HUDSON HOUCK, the Cowboys' former offensive line coach, was scouting the available tackles for the 2011 NFL Draft -- Nate Solder and Anthony Castonzo were available that year, in addition to Smith -- he leaned heavily on his contacts at the University of Southern California, where both he and Smith had played, for inside information. Houck believes the physical attributes of a lineman are not as important as the mental (although he raved about the advantages of Smith's 36-inch arm reach).

Is the player smart enough? Can he learn? What kind of attitude does he have? Is he a team player, and how much passion does he have for football?

The offensive line is a team within the team, making those qualities especially important.

One NFL team's offensive line coach, who asked that his name not be used because he did not want to be thought to be criticizing football, believes there is a fundamental shortfall of offensive linemen because bigger, athletic young men are drifting toward basketball instead. The coach thinks this is due to the fact that basketball is easier and cheaper to play than football.

"It's hard to find an Orlando Pace, a Joe Thomas, an Alex Mack, go right down the list," the coach said. "It's becoming less and less that high-end, spectacular guy."

Those who are playing, though, are ever more likely to be in a spread offense in college, which makes evaluating them for the NFL more difficult and places an emphasis on the ability to learn. When the spread's hold on colleges was first being felt, O-line coaches like Cincinnati's Paul Alexander would watch only goal-line plays of college linemen, because it was the only time they run-blocked. College tackles rarely have a hand in the ground, and they are not used to a quarterback taking anything more than a very short, quick drop.

"Colleges have to do what they have to do to win games," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said. "It is more of a projection. You have to look at them in a different vein. If kids are coming from a spread offense, they have to learn to play from a three-point stance. If they have the raw athleticism, they'll get it, but it will take a little longer."

Said Willie Colon, a former offensive lineman for the Steelers and Jets: "I've watched guys come in with the footwork of a high schooler. I went to Hofstra. I played spread and stood up, and when I got to Pittsburgh, it was such a transition, putting my hand in the dirt, keeping my head up. I had Russ Grimm, one of the original 'Hogs.' (The Hall of Fame lineman was the Steelers' offensive-line coach in 2006, Colon's rookie year.) He cracked me up and stitched me together again."

The lack of bountiful college tape also has placed a premium on the individual workouts that teams put players through before the draft. Mike Munchak, the Hall of Fame lineman who currently coaches the position for the Steelers, said it can sometimes be refreshing to get college players who don't already have bad habits, but he admits it makes him nervous to have so little evidence at hand when trying to decide among several prospects. Bentley works to ready some of those players, for workouts and then for their first training camps. In some cases, Bentley is teaching the rudiments of the position.

"You're starting from ground zero," Bentley said. "You're teaching how to get into a proper stance. Then you get into the nuances of how to move your body. There is so much ground to cover, it's almost impossible to get a player up to speed by the time they get to training camp. It hasn't become innate yet. Players have a high tendency to go native once they get backed into a high-energy environment. You have to go, 'No, no, Johnny -- you can't do that.' By the time you're done talking about the technical aspect, players are thrown a playbook."

THE LEARNING CURVE is steep even for the top prospects. David DeCastro was an All-American guard from Stanford when the Steelers took him in the first round in 2012. He is a Pro Bowler now, but he said it took him at least a year, maybe two, before he understood how to use a defensive lineman's techniques to his own advantage.

"It's a whole different game," DeCastro said. "Whether it's your hands, in college, you get away with mauling people. In the NFL, you can't do that. There is a lot more technique to it."

And there is a lot less practice time to teach it. When the current collective bargaining agreement was completed five years ago, it included significant reductions in both in-season and out-of-season practices, in an attempt to reduce injuries and improve player safety. Gone are old-fashioned two-a-days during training camp and most contact during regular-season game preparation. Ask a general manager about O-line play and he points to ill-prepared college players. Ask a coach, though, and he says that practice-time restrictions impact the offensive line more than any other position -- not just the starters, but the backups.

"It's hard to teach or develop the offensive line without contact," Munchak said. "They, unlike any other player, will have contact on every snap. That's one reason why we choose to have physical camp, because there is no way to mimic it. When it is legal, we try to maximize those opportunities. Back in the past, when I played or when I started coaching, you had guys I could work with in April, May, June, then you have two-a-days. Those guys got a lot of reps. Their development was way ahead of where it is today."

Munchak said it is particularly problematic for young players further down the depth chart, who get precious few practice repetitions, making the drop-off all the more glaring if more than one or two starters gets hurt. According to Munchak, in a typical training-camp practice, the starters get 25 to 30 repetitions in live 11-on-11 settings. The second team gets 18 to 20. The youngest players get 10 to 12. He does not want veterans to have to practice more, but he wonders if having a second practice for younger players in camp would be helpful, to get them more work so that the drop-off is not as steep.

"You get two or three injuries, you can't find guys," Munchak said. "Offensive line, they're the ones that get punished more than anybody by the rule changes."

Ali Marpet, the Bucs' second-year guard who came from Division III Hobart, said his head spun from the volume of information thrown at him when he arrived. He needed work on run-blocking, on keeping his balance. Still, he does not think more full-contact practice is necessary.

"You need to learn to practice without the thud," he said. "If you're banging heads every practice every day, it's going to slow you down by the end of the season."

Alexander, in Cincinnati, does not yearn for the old days, either. He recalls them -- the two-a-days, in full pads, every day until training camp ended. He also recalls that when he worked for the Jets, they played a game against the Eagles when Buddy Ryan was the coach and Philly had a full padded practice the morning of the game. He doesn't know if more players got hurt then than now, but he also believes enough teaching can be done in the classroom to make up for it.

"We have so many OTA practices and offseason programs that if you can't get it taught in all those practices, something's wrong," Alexander said. "I think you have gone through it in the classroom, you've walked through it, things are done right more often. There is more value in doing something right."

Still, Stephen Jones, who sits on the Competition Committee, concedes limited practice time presents a challenge. And he said changing the practice restrictions is something the committee will debate.

"Obviously, it is very sensitive with the players," Jones said. "There are probably some things you can do to make it better. Players have to be trusting coaches aren't going to abuse it. There is probably a middle ground that could be good. There's no question teams and coaches wish they had more time with the players, it's just a matter that coaches aren't going to take it too far. Ninety percent of people do it right. Then you have some outliers that abuse it and then you have a problem on your hands. That's what we have to figure out: How do we prevent abuse of overworking players but at the same time getting work in to develop these young players?"

That is a possible solution to one of the concerns with the offensive line. But there is another issue -- the lack of continuity on lines -- that seems more intractable in today's game. For no other unit in football is cohesion as important, with each player on a line having to know what the others are doing for the blocking to be successful. It is a key reason why coaches argue that they need more practice time with the offensive line and it is a reason why it is difficult for newly-arrived linemen to play the next week.

The Cowboys already have moved to keep the nucleus of their line intact, signing Smith and Frederick to long-term extensions. Jones hopes to get Martin done soon, too, and the fact that Prescott and Elliott are locked into cheap rookie contracts should help clear money for Martin.

"There are just not as many veteran offensive linemen in the NFL anymore," said Geoff Schwartz, a tackle who played seven seasons and was released just before the 2016 season began by the Detroit Lions, who drafted three linemen this year. "You're either getting paid a lot of money or you're on a rookie contract; there's not a lot in between. Obviously, when there were more veterans, the lines were better."

Said Houck: "You look at some lines, they were together five, six, seven years. That's not the case anymore. That may be the biggest factor."

Maybe so, but free agency, like the popularity of the college spread and practice limitations, is unlikely to change enough to suit NFL wish lists. There is at least one offensive line coach who shrugs off all the angst. Dante Scarnecchia coached the Patriots' offensive line from 1999 until his retirement after the 2013 campaign. Scarnecchia, though, continued to work with the team, holding private workouts with two offensive linemen the team eventually drafted: Bryan Stork and Cameron Fleming. He returned this season as the coach, after the Patriots' offensive line, weakened by repeated injuries and the lack of development of young players, struggled to protect Tom Brady.

In training camp, Scarnecchia stressed the importance of trying to keep the starting offensive line intact -- and for the most part, he has been successful. Each player in the starting group of Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon has played at least 88 percent of the offensive snaps this season, a marked change from last season, when the Patriots used 13 different starting lineups.

But Scarnecchia has little time for the other issues that may plague linemen. He points to the 41 offensive linemen who were drafted last spring as evidence that NFL teams remain very interested in what colleges are producing. Scarnecchia is a detail-oriented, technique-driven coach, so he feels strongly that if players are teachable, he has a chance to succeed with them.

"I'll just give you this: Years ago, everybody was running the wishbone and everybody was wringing their hands, 'Aw, these guys don't know how to pass-block.' " Scarnecchia said. "Now, you see plenty of instances by all these spread teams of them running the ball. You can see whether a guy will be physical. If you don't see that, then you don't draft the guy. I think we would all like more practice time, but, you know, this is a different world we're in right now. If you spend too much time thinking about that, you'll wish you were doing something else."

Many thanks, Vambo. That was a very good read...

I agree - that was a great article! Learned a lot about the Steelers OL and Mike Munchak

I have a ton of respect for Munchak.

I think that our run rankings are rather heavily skewed by our significant successes early in the season when Crowell was pretty much keeping pace with Zeke. If you looked at only the last 7 or 8 weeks, I'd wager that we're likely dead last in every category across the board.

He has been an amazing coach. Hopefully the Steelers can keep him.

Also, on the other side of that, we are dead last in "QB Hits", but how many of those are the QBs fault?

First of all, how many teams haven't had their bye yet?

Secondly, there is not an offensive linemen worthy of being drafted in the top 10 in this upcoming draft.

Finally, the Browns desperately need impact players. I think they should go w/Myles Garrett w/the first pick and the BPA w/the pick they get from the Eagles.

You didn't answer my question. How many teams have not had their bye yet?

I am familiar w/Robinson, but I surely don't think he is better than Myles Garrett. Do you? I would put Robinson in the mid to late teens.

I do believe that every team has now had their bye week.

Browns' John Greco reveals he might need Lisfranc foot surgery, a year-long rehab

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/12/browns_john_greco_reveals_he_m.html

BEREA, Ohio - You know it's a star-crossed season for the Browns when one of their starting guards gets a scooter as a hand-me-down from the other.

Guard John Greco, who wheeled through the locker room Thursday on his scooter and with his right foot in a boot, revealed that he likely suffered the same kind of Lisfranc mid foot injury that knocked Joel Bitonio out for the season. What's more, he might have to undergo the same surgery Bitonio did in October, which involves about a year-long rehab.

"I know (flukey),'' said Greco. "Two in one year if that's what it is. I would think it is (Lisfranc).''

Greco will visit foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson next week in Charlotte, and like Bitonio, will likely stick around there for the surgery if it's necessary. The procedure involves almost a year-long recovery, but both are eager to make a full recovery for next season.

"It sucks, especially this time of year,'' said Greco, who started 10 games at guard and two at center. "I would've liked to finish out the season with these guys, but it is what it is."

Greco said the passing of the scooter from Bitonio to him was surreal.

"This [scooter] was his,'' he said. "It was weird. I was in the training room. He rolled in, and they were like, 'Hey, give that to John.' It was crazy how it worked out. It's hard for me to understand. It's such a long recovery. But you're out of the boot and you're able to walk. But it's like why does it take such a long time [to recover]."

A Lisfranc injury involves the bones and cartilage on the top of the midfoot and varies in severity depending on how many of each are involved. But the prognosis after surgery is good.

"Yeah, that's the thing,'' said Greco. "I guess they say if they correct it with surgery you're able to come back 100 percent. It's just kind of a lengthy recovery. It's hard for me to understand it because when they explain to you about the possibilities, it's like you'll be a cast for a while. I think he was in a cast for four weeks. Then he was in one of these things [walking boot].''

Greco, who saved the Browns whenever Cam Erving wasn't able to start or finish the game at center, will be replaced in the lineup by former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper, who's trying to salvage his career.

"It's so hard when the team doesn't have success to do that and when you're in a season like that, you tell yourself you just have to play your game as best as you can so when whoever's evaluating they say moving forward we can win with this guy,'' said Greco. "That's what I just tried to do all year. I'll bounce back from whatever this is and be good to go for the future."

RG3 named Browns starter vs. Bengals

Although the future seems bleak for the line right now, Greco believes it can get turned around in a hurry. The Browns lead the league with 45 sacks allowed, but they should have Bitonio, Greco and Austin Reiter (torn ACL) all back at some point next year.

"What a good story it would be if going through such a dark time and being able to kind of learn from it,'' said Greco. "Things can only go up, so to be able to kind of enjoy that and look back to see what we went through to taste success eventually."

A year? Goodness!

It wasn't super clear from the article, but they made it sound like Greco's recovery is going to be (up to?) a year, but Bitonio is much shorter than that.

Maybe I'm just not reading it correctly.

I may not have read it right. But dang, I hope it isn't a year.

Maybe it's a year to be back to 100%, but you can play before?

Again, not clear from the article.

about a year? wow Greco sorry bro

You said this earlier:



Thus, there is no significance to the statement of the Browns coming off of their bye week if all teams have already had their bye weeks. Your statement comes across as deceptive. I call the homers on that at times. And, I'll call you on it, too.

Stick to reality and don't try and deceive your readers.

Yes mac.

Btw-----------I am talking about Garrett and the draft in the draft threads in the Tailgate forum. Feel free to participate.

A team that played an extra game compared to the rest is going to have more sacks and more hurries.

Garret is a physical freak and it is going to be hard to pass him by. Robinson is very good, but not that elite prospect that other that top LT prospects have been. It's the fact that LT's are valued higher than other positions that gets him into the top 10 conversations.

I'll bite. Garrett was playing on a bad ankle (Hurt it against Arkansas and was playing with the nagging injury most of the season- he did miss some time), and Alabama still ran away from him nine times out of ten despite having the "top LT" in college football blocking him. When Alabama passed, which wasn't very often, they were primarily of the quick route variety. Lane Kiffin game planned to minimize the damage Myles could do, but he still impacted the game (they adjusted to account for him). Plus, He caused disruption in the run game when they tried to have a puller block him and made a couple splash plays. Alabama had the lead for most of the game, so he didn't have a whole lot of opportunities to get after the passer.

Daeshon Hall is quick and can be disruptive, but he can be moved at the point of attack. Texas A&M relied on turnovers and big plays early in the year to climb the rankings. Alabama kind of flipped the script on them. They got the lead and then just overpowered A&M, avoiding throwing and limiting the potential for turnovers.

I'd like to say that in the NFL teams won't be able to just avoid Garrett for large portions of games, but I'm not sure that is true with our team. We do need to find a way to score points, so opponents have a reason to need to pass more predictably.

It also works the other way, too, though. We get behind, have to predictably pass, and QBs get killed. Garrett plays the run well along with being able to rush the passer.

Could we upgrade Pazstor and the better OL allow us to score more points? Maybe, but it looks like the line's biggest problem is communication/recognition (mainly Erving, but the replacement OG's, too) Time/Experience should help, but I'm not sure how much. Hopefully, Shon Coleman will finally be healthy and show us what he can do.

To answer the Question.. heading into this week.. Week 14.. Everyone has had their bye week. The Browns were in the Last group to get a bye week. Any statistics quoted in the NFL for week 14 will reflect everyone having played 12 games.