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Transcript of Browns head coach Mike Pettine's press conference


Opening statement: “Solid first day, I told the guys I was very proud of the effort, very proud of the energy. I’ll go ahead and open in up.”

On ending 30 minutes prior to schedule: “We script a certain amount of plays within the time period, and when we’re not repeating them and when the tempo is good and we’re getting in and out of the huddle, that will trim some time off. We also like to save a little time for the coaches to work with their guys after practice, guys that need a little bit of extra help. In the first day we’re not looking to necessarily maximize the time.”

On the receivers he expects to step up: “(WR) Miles Austin is one guy that definitely jumped out today. I thought he did a real good job working himself back into football. We held him out in the spring. He did a great job over the break coming in. He banged out the running test and he really showed up today, made some nice catches. He’ll still be on a pitch count, but he was a guy I thought was solid. (WR) Anthony Armstrong, (WR) Nate Burleson, some of the other guys that we brought in, they’re smart veteran guys that are good for that because we do have some young guys in that room. It’s good to get (WR) Charles Johnson and (WR) Travis Benjamin out there. Again, we’ll ease them into it with them both coming off injuries and not having been there in the spring. We feel that’s a group from top to bottom that’s a solid group. They’re smart. They’re tough. They love to compete. There’s not a huge difference from the first guy to the last guy. That’s one thing that’s encouraging. That group will come out and compete every day.”

On how the quarterbacks looked: “It’s hard to say at this point. I didn’t necessarily know what the play-call was, what their read was supposed to be. You’re almost a day behind in the evaluation. I thought they both did some real good things that highlighted what they do well and they both made some mistakes. Some of it’s not necessarily their faults—a receiver going the wrong way. I thought it was a solid start for both of them.”

On guys that didn’t pass the conditioning test: “It’s an area of concern. We weren’t just going to have a real easy conditioning test. We wanted to make sure that guys came back and that we were ready to go. A couple guys may have had minor injuries coming into it. They were exacerbated a little bit when they went through the test, so it’ll be a period of time. We might get a guy back tomorrow or the next day. It might take a period of a week or two to get everybody back full, but I think that’s the price of doing that. I believe a tough conditioning test keeps the guys on edge and makes sure that they come back ready to go.”

On the status of DL Billy Winn: “He has an injury. He has a hamstring injury.”

On the fans at training camp: “It was great to walk out the door and feel the energy. We’ve said it all along—that we have the best fans in the league. They’re passionate. They’re loyal. They love football. They’re knowledgeable. That was evident today.”

On LB Barkevious Mingo: “I’m very pleased with how he came back. This is the heaviest he’s ever been. He still ran the conditioning test very well. I think he would have passed it if he ran with the defensive backs. You could tell that hopefully the switch has been flipped. All signs are pointing that way. I’m very pleased. He got into the playbook and showed up ready to work.”

On what he means by the phrase “the switch has been flipped”: “I just think his preparation, his willingness, talking to him about getting his weight up a little bit—it’s not an easy transition for him. He’s going from just two years was a defensive end who had his hand down all the time. His world was completely different than what we’re asking from him now. He’s out in space, much more involved in coverage. We’ll still take advantage of his pass rush ability. As far as a true radical position change, it’s right up there with him. He’s been asked to do some different things than what he’s used to.”

On his weight: “He’s in the high 230s.”

On a guy not practicing until he passes his conditioning test: “It’s not an absolute. There might be some factors that we take into consideration. If they’re injured we might find a different way to test their level of conditioning. I want to be smart with it, but at the same time these guys, they should know that they need to come back here ready to go.”

On if the quarterbacks will be running different plays: “Right now this is just day one installation. If you open up the playbook and turn to chapter one these are just the basics. At some point it will dove tail, but for now, they’re both being handed the same package.”

On what he knows about WR Charles Johnson: “Not much. I went on YouTube and watched his Grand Valley (State) highlights. They were impressive.”

On WR Charles Johnson dominating at the college level: “He did. It’s worth taking a peek at. He’s explosive. He’s a guy that is deceptively fast. He doesn’t look like he’s covering a lot of ground but he is. I think his catch radius is bigger than most. He’s got long arms and he’s got (big) hands. He’s a guy that we hope can emerge from this as a guy that can help us.”

On the confidence QB Brian Hoyer has in his knee: “It doesn’t look like that fazed him. We simulated that some. We had some bodies get close to him—not too close—in the spring. Really being under center is what was new for him. It’s probably better to ask him that question, but just from outside looking in, I though he handled it well.”

On similarities between RB Terrance West and RB Ben Tate including their ability to catch the ball: “I was a little shocked with Terrance today. I had to double check my roster card to make sure I was looking at the right number. He did some nice things in the one on one period. That’s always a bonus, when you have a guy that’s not just one dimensional. You don’t say, ‘We don’t need to cover him. We’re defending the run only.’ The more guys you can have like that the better. I think Ben is probably going to be a little bit ahead of him just naturally in the protection part of it, but Terrance isn’t far behind.”

On if RB Terrance West didn’t pass the conditioning test the first time: “No, I think he just had a little bit of a misunderstanding on what passing the test was about. I called him that night and talked to him the next morning and crushed it. We moved on from that.”

On how many sprints they do for the conditioning test: “It’s 20 and it’s yardage based on their position group. It’s a 40, 50, 60 and it’s time for each of those that they have to make with a certain amount of rest. They have a three minute break in between.”

On the quarterbacks having the mindset that every play matters: “Sure, why wouldn’t it? I don’t think that you want to ease guys in. When you look at the new rules and restrictions on the amount of time these guys get, I don’t think you have reps that you don’t feel are worth it. That’s why I wanted to get those guys in and get those two extra practices the last two days. Those were all reps that were there for the taking, so we got them.”

On QB Johnny Manziel’s attitude: “It’s been great. From the day he walked in here, he’s been extremely coachable. It’s been great to meet him. He asks the right questions. He’s been fine.”

On what his message to the team was this morning: “It was just a continuation of the spring—the message that we laid out then that we have a lot of work to do, that we’re building a foundation and we don’t want it to be a foundation that we can look good in a practice or two or a preseason game or two or maybe a game or two in the regular season. We want to build it the right way and build it here so that we can have long-term sustained success. The rest of it was just a lot of administrative stuff, typical training camp stuff.”

On his assessment so far: “I’m pleased. I think it’s a good group. We talk about the ‘play like a Brown’ attributed. I thought (general manager) Ray Farmer and the personnel department really took that to heart in putting this roster together. We maybe moved on from some guys that potentially still can play in the NFL and just didn’t feel like a good fit for us. The more guys that you can get that are passionate, that are competitive, that are tough, the better off you’re going to be. That’s how we want to build a team, and that’s why I’m pleased with where the roster is right now.”

On QB Brian Hoyer fully participating every day after coming off the ACL injury: “I don’t think he’s going to let us back him off. That’s something I’ll get with (Browns head athletic trainer) Joe (Sheehan) on as we get going. We’ll see how the knee reacts. Typically there’s a chance you’ll start to get some swelling, some symptoms from it as the workload gets heavier and it’s day in and day out unlike the spring. We’ll certainly monitor it. If we need to back him off, then we will.”

On the guard position: “I think it’s pretty open. We have a lot of guys that we’re working through there—(OL John) Greco when he gets back. You’ve got (OL Garrett) Gilkey. (OL Joel) Bitonio has been impressive so far. (OL Jeremiah) Warren—it’s a solid group. I think between (offensive line) Coach (Andy) Moeller and (assistant offensive line) Coach (George) DeLeone, whoever ends up in their will be well prepared.”

On how long QB Brian Hoyer will wear a knee brace: “I’m not sure. The knee structure I know is fine. A lot of times it’s to protect him from other people. I know that because I have a daughter that did both knees playing lacrosse, so I went through the whole brace thing.”

On OL Paul McQuistan: “He’s in it. He can swing. He’s a guy who’s played a lot of minutes in the NFL that can maybe even play all five (offensive line) positions.”

On if OL Chris Faulk is going to stay on the outside: “At this point, yes. We’ll reevaluate as we get the pads on. All things change then. This is really a continuation of the spring from being in shorts. Hopefully, Monday we can get rolling with it.”

On when OL John Greco will be ready: “I’m not sure. I haven’t gotten that update yet.” web page

So Mingo "did" add weight! He doesn't look any bigger to my naked eye.

I thought I read that Grossi stated Mingo allegedly played in the 230s last year ... but that listing was generous

That could be a substantial weight gain for him. I just went from 260 down to 252 lbs and I really feel it. I hope his added weight was all muscle. My weight loss was all water and fat.

High 230's which means he probably was in the low 220's last year???

I'm pretty sure he weighed in 240 at the combine.

Link:

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/barkevious-mingo?id=2540140

241lbs to be exact. So upper 230's, he leaned out a little bit (if that was even possible) and/or is playing at the same/very similar weight as last year. Ah well, not sure what type of weight his frame and metabolism is going to let him pack on. We may need to just settle with Mingo as a 240lb'er and pray he can build up his strength and technique to be dominate as a high-round he was...

Mike Pettine and Ray Farmer

cleveland.com By cleveland.com
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on July 27, 2014 at 10:44 PM, updated July 27, 2014 at 10:54 PM


Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns public relations staff.

Mike Pettine

Opening statement: "Just before we get started real quick, I know some people might ask about [OL Jason] Pinkston. Pinkston's unavailable to practice and due to his circumstances I cannot comment on it any further. I want to give you more, but just given the circumstances, I can't. That's where we are with Jason."

On if he has any idea when he'll be back: "No."

On if he'll be back: "Possibility."

On if it's health related: "I will not speak on it further."

On if QB Johnny Manziel took a step back today: "No, and I don't know if I want to stand here every day just walking off the field and evaluate the performance. Until we watch the tape and look at the grade sheets and kind of know what was asked of him and what he did and making sure the guys around him are doing the right thing—it's similar to after a game. I don't know how much true evaluation I'll be able to offer. Sometimes you think one thing and you get in and watch the tape and your opinion changes completely, so it's hard to say."

On what he was trying to get accomplished today with the passing game: "We're still in the install. What we installed in the spring, we circle back. We start right at the beginning. We do have a handful of new guys, but it's still repetition. We're still very much in just the basic. We haven't put pads on yet. We'll even circle back in some of these core concepts we put in, in shorts. We want to make sure we get these practiced well with pads also. Some of the things that went in day one and two, we'll go back into the install for tomorrow."

On if it's encouraging to see QB Brian Hoyer looking confident on his knee today after talking about it yesterday—monitoring it, seeing if there's swelling, things like that: "It is and I think it's just a matter of getting the repetitions with confidence. I think anybody coming off (an ACL injury), it's just human nature, may be a little flighty early with lots of big bodies flying around. I think he'll only get more comfortable as we go."

On how you're not comparing apples to apples when comparing which quarterback had the better day—they were working with two different supporting casts: "It's not. They still have things they need to accomplish every play. That starts with getting the play and calling it right in the huddle—all the minute details that they're being evaluated on. Footwork, where their eyes are, if their eyes are where they're supposed to be as far as making the read, the mechanics of the throw—all those things go into it. I'm thinking that we will mix the groupings up, but it's just still so early. We're still technically under the rules of the mini-camp. Until we put pads on and really get going, things will stay as they are."

On if he thinks he'll keep this 'Brian Hoyer first team reps' thing going a little bit longer or if he thinks he'll get Johnny in there: "A little bit longer. The players are off on Wednesday. Then we'll get with—not just with the quarterback competition but with the other groups—and evaluate. These are the players that have gotten reps with this group, and we want to make sure we get things evened out so we get a good evaluation."

On moving TE MarQueis Gray to full back in mini-camp and if he's staying there: "Yeah, we're hopeful. That's a position that, as I've talked about before, any time you have a versatile player there that can do the fullback jobs but has a history of a tight end, receiver-type skill set, from a defensive perspective, I always thought that was problematic. You don't know what you're in. Usually, when there's a true fullback in the game, it really restricts the call-sheet offensively, and you can really dial in defensively when you have a guy that's that hybrid-type in there. That can cause some problems."

On why they didn't see OL Joe Thomas out there: "Joe is just one of our veteran guys. He'll periodically have a day off. We didn't want to just give him all the days in shorts and then turn around and not have him in there for when we got started in pads. When he's out there he'll be on a pitch count and then we'll periodically have scheduled days off just for being a veteran player. He's shown he's done it. We'll give some other guys an opportunity."

On if DB Joe Haden is OK as well: "He returned to practice."

On if he thinks that Brian Hoyer was a little too geeked up yesterday given all the circumstances he had yesterday—coming off an injury, hometown guy, his dream job, all the Johnny Manziel hype—and if today he was more relaxed: "Yeah, I think that for all the things you said, he would have to be a robot not to be affected. I don't know if you asked him that or not. There was a lot going on inside his head, but it's a solid start for both quarterbacks."

On what's going on at the inside linebacker sport next to LB Karlos Dansby: "Competition—we've got (LB) Craig Robertson. We've got (Chris) Kirksey. We even out Dansby on the edge today for a couple of snaps and let those other guys play inside. We'll mix and match. It's part of what we do to get guys cross trained. You always want to be in a position to have your best 11 out there. I think we'll have more than enough reps to get that position evaluated before we get to the opener."

On if DL Phil Taylor has tried the conditioning test again: "No, he's rehabbing right now."

On fans taking notice of Johnny Manziel's gear change—he changed his shoes—and if that means anything: "Well I got tied up inside. I never even knew that he came out. I'm a black shoe black sock guy myself, much more conservative. By the time I came out he had his regular shoes on anyway."

On if there is a team rule you have to abide by in relation to his shoes: "Yeah, I think it's the equipment, team issued gear. DL Calvin Barnett came out yesterday and decided to wear Oklahoma State socks. That lasted a day. Even though they were Browns' orange, that lasted a day."

On what he sees from WR Andrew Hawkins after making nice catches over the last few days, but still developing chemistry with the quarterbacks: "It's why he's here. We identified that in him. He's been an ultimate professional. He's been great with the other guys in the room. You would think he was a 10-year veteran with the way he carries himself. When we talk to the young wide receivers, he's the guy—if you want to pattern yourself after a guy, that's the guy. He comes out and works hard every day, on the field, off the field. It's been a very pleasant surprise. To me, when you have a guy that has that type of separation ability, that type of quickness that can turn a short game into a long one, it can only be a plus for you."

On what he's looking forward to with the first day of pads and if there is anything special planned: "Nothing special planned for, but I want to be able to hear the practice. To me, you know when the pads are popping and we're getting after each other. It's been tough on the offense because it's advantage defense when you're not in pads. It's a little tougher to block a guy when there's less blocking surface. That to me, has been what's been missing so far is to master the physical techniques that you're not able to practice without pads on, and tomorrow will be the start of that."

On how good DL Desmond Bryant is when he's healthy and how important he can be to the defense: "Very important—He's already flashed some. We didn't have him for the spring and these past two days he's already jumped off the tape a little bit for us. He's another guy we'll keep an eye on how many reps he's taking. I think the nice thing about that defensive line room is the depth, that we can keep a guy like Des fresh, that he doesn't necessarily have to be out there all three downs, that we can save him for the long third down and let him rush the pass."

On when he watched the tapes last year, if he saw a difference in how he played the rest of the season as opposed to the first few games when he was arguably the best defender the Browns had: "Yeah, it was noticeable. I don't know the exact details of it, but he was darn good early."

On if there will be any Oklahoma drill tomorrow: "No."

On if there will be an inside run drill tomorrow: "Yes, we'll do an inside run period every day. It essentially ends up being no wide receivers, no corners. We won't get too exotic defensively. It'll be let's line up and see who can play. To me it's the counterpart of when we do seven on seven. That's usually advantage offense—clear pass rush, no throwing lanes—whereas that inside drill should be advantage defense. It's more of a mentality thing. We want to come off. We want to block people. We want to get off blocks. We want to knock people back. If we want to establish that mentality, we have to do that drill."

On why he think that the shift around the NFL has been a passing league, but the Browns and the really most of the AFC North seem to believe in defense first, that the run sets up the pass, smash mouth football and why he still believes that's the way to win: "I think it's been proven. I know that you look at what we did in the offseason, the improvement at running back and some of the moves we made up front. We're still going to have the ability to throw the football. We're not just going to put one wide receiver out there and go two tight ends. We want to be an efficient offense whether it's running or passing. We're not just going to say we're going to run. You want to be unpredictable. That's when you're the most successful, when you're throwing it when people think you're going to run and vice versa. I think you have to have the ability to run the football. When you get a lead you can win the game, or when it's bad weather and you can't throw it you have to be able to move the ball still."

On things getting a little feisty at practice and if he likes that: "Not necessarily. I use the phrase—and you guys will probably get tired of me saying it—it's competitive, not combative. I talked to all the players that were involved with both of them. We don't need that. It's not good for them. It's not good for us. It's not going to help guys make the team. It's going to happen. I understand it, but it's a bad habit to have in practice because then you can say, 'I won't lose my cool in the game.' That's easy to say and that's harder to do."

Ray Farmer

On what's going on with (Browns OL) Jason Pinkston: "I think (Browns Head) Coach (Mike Pettine) addressed it the best way we could is that right now there's really no comment from our prospective, and where there is time to make a comment then that comment will be made."

On if he would be surprised, shocked, stunned if (Browns QB Brian) Hoyer was not the guy anymore: "I don't think I'd be surprised, shocked about anything. The thing that we're focused on now is driving competition. Brian will have to play. Johnny will have to play. Tyler will have to play, and Connor will have to play. Our goal is to try to promote the best environment for those guys to compete and demonstrate what their skill level is."

On what he has seen from Manziel in the first two practices: "I've seen a young man that came back that appears to be prepared for a competition. I think that's what we want are guys that took the time to come back and demonstrate that they're ready to compete to be starters in this league. I think everybody here wants to play. Anytime you're on a football team you want to play. You want to play as much as you can. We'll see that while he's in the building he's putting forth the work to try to be the starter."

On if Manziel's reputation off the field was more than he expected this year and what he and Manziel talked about: "We met, and I will tell you that – and I'll kind of make this simple – I'm big on keeping those conversations private, but I will tell you just that I did know his off the field prowess, if you will, that everybody is kind of alluding to. I think, like Johnny said, like Jimmy Haslam said, like 'Pett' has said – he made his mistakes and that's that. Our focus now is what happens on the field. He's focused he's committed on football. He's doing his thing here in the building, and we're excited about kind of where he's at, at the moment.

On if Manziel convinced him that he was putting those days behind him before the draft: "Again, I will tell you that before the draft there were numerous conversations with people in the building, people outside the building, people including Johnny himself – all those conversations culminated in, obviously, we had a comfort level when we drafted him. If we thought that was an excessive nature of what it was going to be, then we would have never picked him."

On what he sees in the receiving corps now after not selecting one in the draft: "I like our receiving corps. Like I said, you want to drive the competition. We want guys in here that we think can play and be competitive and contribute to be starters. At the end of the day, there are some names that everybody here recognizes, whether it's Miles Austin, whether it's Nate Burleson. There are names that you'll recognize. There are some other guys that you won't recognize. For me, it comes down to when you look at what guys do it's when they get an opportunity to play, will they play well? Nobody knew Miles Austin until Miles Austin got his opportunity. That's what we're looking for, guys that compete and then push Miles Austin to make our football team better."

On if he expects clarity on Browns WR Josh Gordon's situation after Gordon visits the league next week: "When the league tells us what the clarity is then that's when we'll move forward."

On what he saw from (Browns WR) Charles Johnson last year and what he sees of him now that he's finally on the field: "The easy things are all the recognizables right away, that he's 6 foot 2 and a half, 215 pounds. He ran a 4.38 40 (yard dash). Those are the easy pieces, but when you watch the tape you like his hands. You like the fact that he can run the routes, and right now it's a young man that put a lot of work to recovering from an ACL injury. You can see that he's big. He's still fast and he can run routes and catch the football."

On if the Browns worked Johnson out before the draft: "Yes, we did. We took looks at him, and again, he's an interesting prospect. At the end of the day, Green Bay drafted him. They then released him and put him on their practice squad and we poached him from there. I'm really excited for him to get his opportunity. I think this is his first time stepping on the field, and everybody now is getting a chance to see what we thought about Charles Johnson live.

On if he thinks the Browns have enough receivers or if he is trying to add to that group: "Always looking to add. Again for us, it's about driving the competition and pushing the roster. Always looking to incrementally getting better. If we can push the guys that are at the bottom end of the roster, if you will, to pushing those next guys it'll improve all of us."

On if he is comfortable with the current wide receiving corps if he had to go into Week 1 with it: Assuming they perform and they demonstrate that they're worth being on this football team, absolutely. I think that's what it comes down to. They're all going to have to go out and perform when it comes down to playing games and preseason games and consistently performing in practice."

On how far he thinks the Browns have progressed since the spring and how far he thinks the team has progressed from when he took over as general manager: "Again, my job, my role here is to try to improve the talent on this football team. I think we did that, to what degree I'll let you guys judge. I think I'm always looking to get better. The movie is never over. Every day we come out here, every day we sit in there with the scouts, we're looking to improve our roster. We're just looking to drive the roster. We we're talking on the field today about guys that we've seen on the wire, guys that we've seen come through, what our interest of them may or may not be, and how can we continue to get better."

On what he's thought about Browns RBs Ben Tate and Terrance West? "I think that, not only Tate and West, we have a good stable, if you will, of runners. I like the group that we have, and I'm excited to see those guys put the pads on and see kind of what happens once they do get the pads on, of how they carry those pads and how they bounce around against our defense."

On his impressions of Brian Hoyer coming back from the ACL, the way he's dealt with the offseason and his start to camp: "I think Brian's been phenomenal. I think he's handled it like a pro, which is what you would like. He's a man's man. He didn't cry over spilled milk. He attacked his rehab. He was here probably more than anybody. I think I work a lot hours and there weren't very many hours that I was in the building and Brian wasn't somewhere working on his craft, be it the meeting room, be it the indoor facility, be it the weight room. He did everything he could to put himself in the best position possible. Now he's got to go out and perform."

On his desire to extend Hoyer's contract and where he might be in that process "Again, I will never negotiate through the media. I apologize. It's just not my thing to talk about a player's financial prowess, if you will, to anyone else but him and his agent. I'll avoid that one."

On if the staff moving forward with the idea that Hoyer is going to start the first preseason game is an accurate perception: "I would say that everybody's going to get their opportunities. Brian right now is working with the No. 1's and as he goes that's what will happen. As coaches make decisions and we definitely have meetings every day – who's doing what, how well they're performing and who needs to get more reps in what situations. As we move through that, Coach will make those decisions. We'll all have input, and we'll see what happens when the movie ends."

On Hoyer seeming very decisive and effective today and if that is reflective of the work he has put in: "Yeah. The guy's a pro. If you watch how he attacked all of it, like you said, his rehab, his mental state, all of it. He has been a professional, you can see it. One bad day doesn't make or break it. It's the consistency that makes you win in the National Football League. Guys have great games, and you never hear from them again. It's the guys that can routinely go out and perform time and time again that you want, and Brian's trying to show that that's what he's going to do."

On if it is easy to compare Hoyer to a guy who was on the party circuit and is learning: "Again, I would tell you that, like I said, from Brian's perspective, he's been a pro. He's handles himself the right way, and I'm going to compare Brian to Brian."

On if it might be harder for Johnny to show up well in these kind of drills because so much of what everybody has seen is the improvising and the stuff that he does during games: "I would say that Johnny shows up fine. You watch him in practice, you watch him do what he does and, again, the interesting part about it is that most people fall in love with the highlights because that's what gets portrayed. Nobody really pays attention to the routine throw, but he's made routine throws. He's made routine throws at Texas A&M. He's made routine throws out here. From our perspective, we really like the idea that he can go and do all the things that we expect him to do."

On if he sees a hole somewhere anywhere and if there is a group that's pleasantly surprised him: "I think there's always work to be done. I'm not going to single out any one group of our football team. I do think that as we look at where we're going, we're going to definitely look to address every position. We're never done. We're never content with where we're at. I think the great teams, they make transactions and they move on from guys and they improve and they get better in time. You go back and you watch some the teams that kind of attained success here recently, they had a lot of transactions on those football teams in short period of time. It's not an indictment on anything other than looking to get better, looking to incrementally get better. That's where we're at."

On if Browns OL Joel Bitonio was his highest rated guard and what he you liked about him so much: "I don't want to talk about my board and kind of who was where, but I will tell you I definitely like the player on tape. For me, he had a lot of similarities to players that I've seen have a lot of success in this league. A guy that played left tackle, he was gritty, he was tough, he was athletic. He played smart, didn't have a lot of mistakes. He wasn't on the ground. You watched his tape, he could run dowfield, engage a defensive back, stay of his feet, finish the block, and all of those things added up to me that a guy would come to this league and have success, specifically with the type of scheme ."

On what he has thought of (Browns DB) Justin Gilbert so far: "I think Justin Gilbert's been good. He came in, he crushed the run test. I actually thought he had the hardest part of it. People talked about that before, but he came out and ran it one day by himself, it was windy, he ran through the wind one way, he ran with the wind another way and crushed it. Kudos to him. I think he's looked good while he's been out here. He made a break the first day. He's like all the other younger players. He's learning to get better day by day. He's taken the coaching. He seems engaged in meetings. We're excited about where he can go."

On if he expected the type of season he had last year and how hard will it be for him to duplicate that with more focus and not Josh Gordon running next to him: "I would say that if you look at Jordan last year you could say it's a surprise. I think we want all of our players to play at that level, and he did. He performed. He did it, and if you look at early in the year he was really good when Josh wasn't available. From our prospective, we hope he can continue that. I think that's really the moniker of the guys that make a difference year in and year out are the guys that they continually put those numbers up, regardless if they're a focal point or if they're not. If you look at the better tight ends...I had the fortune of being in Kansas City with Tony Gonzalez. They double-teamed him. They quadruple-teamed him, but he still caught footballs. It really didn't matter, and we're hoping Jordan can take those kinds of steps."

On how training camp is going for him: "I'm good. It's been good. 'Pett' and I meet routinely. We're enjoying the journey together, and I think that's what it's about. Our organization is moving in a direction where. We're excited about what the future can hold. We realize it's a process, and we're just going to work, have fun in the moment and enjoy it."
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Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 15, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Monday. Below is a transcript from the news conference provided by the team.

Opening statement: “As with every loss, we carry disappointment into the next day, and even more so with this one just because of the magnitude, the circumstances. We just had a great opportunity yesterday to come out in our last home game and leave our fans with a very positive feeling. Ultimately, last chance to play in front of the Dawg Pound, and we fell way short. That doesn’t sit well with anyone. After watching the tape, it’s still difficult to understand why our performance was what it was. I talked about that edge, that ‘it’ factor that you have to have in order to be successful. It wasn’t there, and the atmosphere was intense. I thought our fans were as they always have been. They were jacked up ready to go. As I said, we control the volume, and we found a way yesterday to turn the volume down to zero. These last two games we still have a lot to accomplish. It’s been a theme for the last month but as coaches, we’re still tasked with getting our offense to play better. We made the decision to go with (QB) Johnny (Manziel). He’ll be a big part of that, but it’s not all on him after watching the tape. We need to be much more consistent on defense and on special teams. Took a step backwards yesterday in our run defense. To me, moving forward, again, I talked about people will say that these games aren’t meaningful. They’re certainly meaningful to us, this one in particular. Like I said, we still have a lot to accomplish. We look forward to having a great week of prep and go down to Carolina and get this bad taste out of our mouth.”

On if the type of performance Manziel had yesterday was part of his hesitation in making Manziel the starter earlier in the season: “What I’ve said all along is that we felt each week leading up to this week that (QB) Brian (Hoyer) gave us the best chance, but part of the evaluation is the great unknown with playing a rookie and knowing that there are going to be rookie mistakes made. I think that just was always built into that discussion.”

On why he thinks Manziel gives the Browns the best chance to win in the last two weeks of the season: “That we know we’ll get better. A big part of it too is, as we’ve said all along, we have to play better around him. The unfortunate thing of yesterday, we had some guys that played well, but the mistakes they made were at critical times. We had guys that graded out high and maybe made three or four mistakes. Well, those mistakes were on a third down. They were on a goal line play. They were in the red zone. They were on a critical, like I said, a critical third down or a critical point in the game. That’s unfortunate because hidden within yesterday were some pretty good performances. Johnny showed some flashes of what he’s capable of, and we had some chances to turn those plays into some real positive ones. The one that ‘Hawk’ (WR Andrew Hawkins) got hit on and ultimately dropped it on the third down. (TE) Jim Dray mistimed a jump a little bit. I thought those were both plays where he showed his escape ability and made a good throw. It’s just across the board. We have to find a way. We’ve lost something, and we need to take this week and find it.”

On the pass protection and false starts and looking like there was something not in sync on the offensive line: “We did have some breakdowns in pass pro. Cadence wise, it’s something we have to get to the bottom of. I know we had more false starts that normal. I know sometimes that happens when you change quarterbacks, and you have a relatively new center. That’s all stuff that I know our guys were going to get with the players today and find our more exactly what happened on those particular plays.”

On if Cincinnati’s eight-minute opening drive makes him reconsider choosing to defer to the second half: “No. Just from a statistical standpoint, I just like to defer. Deferring, you get a chance to maximize your possessions with the most amount of information. You got into a second half when you defer. You have a chance to get the first possession of the second half and the last. At that point in the game, you have much more information available to you than you do in the beginning – how a team’s playing you, what their game plan is. You get a chance to kind of reset the rack, offensively. It will take an extreme circumstance for us not to defer.”

On if he had the same feeling with the team down 20 points at halftime and Manziel at quarterback that he had with Hoyer when the Browns came back to win games earlier in the season: “Every game’s different. We went in at halftime and felt that we could make some adjustments to move the ball and be productive and step up on defense. For a variety of reasons, we weren’t able to do that.”

On what Manziel had shown in practice that made him believe something different would happen yesterday: “Very productive. The game’s very different. It’s different pressure you’re going against. In practice, you can simulate the speed as much as you can, but games are very different. He had practiced well. He practiced at a high level when he was going off of cards and when he was practicing our offense. That’s something that the unpredictability and that was part of the unknown with a first-time quarterback that factored into the decision in previous weeks.”

On if he genuinely believes that Manziel gives the Browns the best chance to win this week or if it’s just more important to evaluate him over the last two games: “We’re going to move forward with him as our quarterback. We feel he gives is an opportunity to win, but I think we’re hanging too much on the quarterback position. We haven’t played well enough around him, and it showed. I think we could have played Brian Sipe at quarterback yesterday, and I don’t think the outcome would have been much different.”

On if Manziel’s performance creates any doubt about his long-term success:“It doesn’t, and I think it’s too small of a sample size. When you look at how we played around him I think it’s very unfair to judge somebody…what their career is going to be like off of their first start. I’m sure you could go back and find a lot of other regrettable performances in a first start.”

On his level of surprise that Manziel had an opposite effect in terms of energy than what was expected on Sunday: “My level of surprise comes from just the overall play of the entire team, and that’s something that we’re some soul searching today, as far as – how did that happen, how can we avoid that from happening? That’s the challenge of coaching. I don’t think any of us saw it coming. There were no signs. Sometimes, I’ll get a feel during the week like, ‘This week’s not going well and it’s probably going to show on Sunday.’ I don’t think any of us had it, players and coaches included. That, to me, is why we’re at a bit of a loss today to explain that in what was certainly our biggest game of the year, a chance to make a statement moving forward and win a game in the division and so many other circumstances that made this game so important and we came up so small.”

On how the team regroups for two games that don’t matter in regards to making the playoffs: “They matter. They matter to us for sure. We find a way. It all falls back to our ability to compartmentalize. I know the Indy game took a lot out of us. Looking back, did it have an effect yesterday? Maybe it did. I know it was not just a very physical game for us, especially defensively the number of snaps we played, but it was just, emotionally, I think deflating. We’ve got to find a way to bounce back. As I said before, this isn’t Major League Baseball where we’ve got 162 opportunities. We’ve got two left out of 16, and no one is more important, no one is more meaningful than the one this weekend.”

On Manziel being humbled and if a dose of humility could be good for Manziel in terms of making him work as hard as he needs to: “To me, anytime that you’re humbled I think it can be an eye-opener. That pertains to anybody. When things have come easy for you in the past or where you get some players, ‘Hey, I think I’ve got this thing figured out,’ then something like that happens to you. I think that type of game humbles all of us. We had been able to do some things in the past that we weren’t able to do. That’s something that – as an organization, coaches, just staff and team – we’ve got to regroup, and we’ve got to regroup in a hurry.”

On if there’s anything they can do differently schematically to help Manziel:“Yeah, to me it’s an execution thing. We were close on a lot of plays, but close isn’t good enough.”

On how he handled the read option: “A lot of them were called handoffs. They might have looked like read options, but they weren’t. A lot of them were predesigned. They were designed gives. I don’t know if we even ran maybe two in the game. I know they did a nice job on the one, and then I know we didn’t block the other one right.”

On the results of DB Joe Haden’s MRI: “He’s day to day. I’m not sure what the exact diagnosis was...a bruised cuff. He has not been ruled out for this weekend, but I think we’ll know much more information when it quiets down and we get to the end of the week.”

On if offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was making a concerted effort to keep Manziel from running or he stayed inside the pocket because of the Bengals: “I would say it was a combination. I wouldn’t say there was a concerted effort to have him run less. I thought there were times he did a good job getting out of the pocket and made a couple throws that we weren’t able to come down with. I thought the few scrambles that he had were positive. It wasn’t anything that was on our part designed, and I thought they played well. Like I said yesterday, I don’t want to take anything away from them. They had a good plan, and they went out and executed.”

On if there are any younger players he’ll be looking to evaluate over the next two weeks or if the rest of the lineup will pretty much stay the same: “Well, I think just looking at it by the circumstances with corner we don’t know. There were very few bright spots yesterday. One of them was (DB) Pierre Desir. Here is a guy who had played a grand total of zero defensive snaps going into it, had played some special teams the last few weeks. (He) went out and played 39 snaps and played at a high level - was very physical, tackled well. Here’s a kid coming from Lindenwood where our training camp practices had more people than his games did, and it was not big for him at all. That was great to see because it’s a good example to everybody else. When you’re on the scout team, here’s a guy who perfected his craft. Those guys coached him hard when he was on the scout team and got better each week. Here’s a guy that I think he heard from everybody that, ‘Hey, this is your redshirt year.’ He didn’t want to hear that, and he certainly didn’t prepare that way. He went out and played very well. It was very encouraging.”

On if he has an opinion on WR Andrew Hawkins wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford’ coming out of the tunnel before the Bengals game: “We issued a statement on that, and I know he addressed it as well. I don’t really want to get into it. What we said last night I think summed up how we all feel.”

On if he thinks these three games and the game in Buffalo are enough of a sample size to decide if Manziel is a long term solution at quarterback: “It’s a sample size. I don’t know, I mean, we’ll have a sense, but I still think there will be question marks no matter what happens. We’ll have a sense, but it’s something that...I don’t think it’s going to confirm one way or the other the opinion. He could hit it out of the park the next two and there will still be doubts. He could not play very well the next two and there would be a ton of doubts. We’re going to see him play, and then see how it goes from there. We can’t look back and say we wish we had played him more games now that we’re, for all intents and purposes, close to being eliminated, so we’ll see.”

On how he proceeds if there are still going to be doubts and question marks:“My last thought right now is how we’re going to proceed in the offseason. We’re all about Carolina and our prep. Again, we have so few opportunities. We have a lot of time when things finish up for us to look forward. I know that falls more on (General Manager) Ray (Farmer’s) plate than mine. He’ll have a lot of plans ready to go, and we’ll go in and have lively discussions on how we want to handle things moving forward. I’m not going to sit here today and start to talk about what we’re going to do after the season.”

On how he evaluates the play of the offensive line and how much of that is a byproduct of having a different style of quarterback under center: “It’s still fundamental stuff. There were some guys up front that played well, and some other guys did not play their best games. Other than the sack, the one play, I thought (OL) Mitchell (Schwartz) - and it was at an inopportune time, it was on a third down - that might have been one of Mitchell’s best games that he’s played, especially in the run game. To me, it’s inconsistent. There was not a dramatic change in what we’re doing schematically. We’re still zone blocking for the most part, pass protections didn’t change. It’s not that we shifted gears in such a way that we asked the offensive line to go from running the run-shoot to running the wishbone. It was still, conceptually, everything that we’ve been doing.”

On if he’ll look for another change at center: “We’ll discuss that tonight and maybe a couple other positions. (NFL Network reporter) Aditi (Kinkhabwala), to finish your question, other than Pierre, there might be some subtle moves with some guys, but that’s stuff that we haven’t talked about yet.”

On their being only one sweep in the division this year, if he can remember a division that he’s been a part of that has been this tight and what he attributes the competitiveness to: “It’s good football teams, good deep rosters. I think the coaching in this division is outstanding - what we have to go up against. I don’t know. It’s one of those years. We’re hopeful we can get to the point where people look at this division and everybody finishes above .500. That would be quite an accomplishment.”

On if RB Isaiah Crowell is still bothered by a hip injury and if RB Terrance West isn’t getting the plays right because Manziel kept positioning him:“Yeah, there were a couple of things with communication where there’s one word that designates where the running back lines up. There were times where he didn’t hear it, and some of the stuff we’re calling at the line requires the moving of the running back where we’re kind of in our no-huddle and the first formation is set but then the position in the back can be adjusted. There are times it’ll look that way. I don’t know if ‘Crow’ (Crowell) is 100-percent. That’s probably a better question for him. I know he looked better as the week went on. You can tell early in the week he was still bothered by it. I don’t know how much of it was a factor in the game. Just the way the game went it was just tough. I know he didn’t get that many touches, but when you only get - I think we were in the low 40s gradable snap-wise - it’s tough to get either one of those guys in rhythm.”

On scaling back practice last week and what his game plan is for practice this week: “Similar. I just think that we can probably scale it back a little bit more offensively just because there were some things we had to do we hadn’t done in a while that we had to practice. It’s that time of year where we’ve logged a good amount of repetitions, so we can look to trim a little bit here and there just to get them out of here a little bit sooner and get them off their feet. I think it’s more about being fresh, and I think that was an issue yesterday. We did not look like the fresher team.”

On if he thinks the lowered expectations might help Manziel this week: “Yeah, I mean, I see your point. It was probably near impossible with the expectations of what he was coming out. It was near impossible in his first start to be anywhere near that, but we’ll see. He just knows, and I thought he handled it well yesterday. He understands everything that happened and knows we’ve just got to push on. He’s got to have a great week of practice, and we’ll be able to build a plan for our offense to be successful. We’ll be very hopeful that that will show up on the field on Sunday in Carolina.”

On if DB Justin Gilbert has a concussion: “No, they did not allow him to return to the game because they suspected him of having one, but it was confirmed later that he did not and that was confirmed again this morning.”

On if he has any other injury updates on guys who got MRIs: “Yeah, I believe it was (WR) Marlon (Moore) who got one. We’re still not sure there. He hasn’t been ruled out. Joe I know for sure was the other one, and then probably it was Gilbert that was the other one I was referencing to even though it was more of a neurological thing than an MRI.”

On if DB K’Waun Williams will be back this week: “We’ll see. We’ll see. I don’t have a definitive that he’s out, but we’re hopeful that we can get him back.”

On if he saw the Browns fan push down Bengals RB Jeremy Hill when he tried to jump into the stands: “Yeah, somebody told me about it later. I didn’t see it when it happened, but he should be commended (laughter).”

[url=http://www.ohio.com/blogs/cleveland-browns/cleveland-browns-1.270107/here-s-what-coach-mike-pettine-is-saying-about-the-browns-today-1.550026][/url]

Heard that live and shook my head while laughing under my breath.

I feel bad for the guy.

I feel bad for him too.

The gas station attendant is flexing his power from the Owners Box.

To defer the opening kick off to the Bengals at home while the fans are all jacked up to see JM step out on the field was a mistake IMO.

That no fun though...

Everyone know that this was a redshirt year for Desir. Not too many people can make the jump from D2/3 to the NFL without some period of adjustment. Physically he has the tools, but he appears to be progressing. Yeah, so he may not be a McFadden.

he played a really nice game against the Bengals. He broke up one pass that was really nicely done, and he had another real nice play in run support.

[quote=GratefulDawg]Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 15, 2014

to finish your question, other than Pierre, there might be some subtle moves with some guys, but that’s stuff that we haven’t talked about yet.”

I wonder who they might be thinking about? Seems they have a couple of guys in mind, I wonder what the tape showed? Maybe replacing some slackers? If the was the case they'd have to replace most of the OL and the Defense.

I would be willing to bet that they look at replacing the Center. He played really poorly in the Bengals game.

Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 17, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Wednesday before practice. Below is a transcript from the news conference provided by the team.

Opening statement: “The message to the team this morning was pretty simple. This week represents another opportunity to get a win in the National Football League. Those opportunities you don’t get that many of them. You train for a long time for 16 opportunities in a regular season, and this is one that is just as important as any other. There’s no better feeling than winning, and that’s something that we need to get that feeling back. In the Panthers, we’re playing a team…They’re, despite their record, in the thick of the race in the NFC South. We all know that’s well documented. Offensively, they do a lot of different things – a very unique running game. They do a real nice job. They have three backs that are very capable. They involve the quarterback in the run game a lot, very aware of (Panthers QB) Cam’s (Newton) situation, his unfortunate accident last week. We do expect him to play. I know there’s still a little gray about that, but we do fully expect him to play. That’s a big part of our prep. Defensively, it’s a good group led by (Panthers LB) Luke Kuechly who, to me, is one of the best linebackers in football. We’re going to have to be on point in what we do in all phases, whether it’s setting the edge in the run game, whether it’s us on offense being physical at the point of attack. It’s emphasizing the little stuff this week. It’s not about the call. I would think that we are not going to try to reinvent the wheel scheme wise. We need to go out and play great fundamental football. I talked to the team about their focus this week. We’re kind of sandwiched in between a very disheartening loss, and we also have the end of the season is on the horizon. That’s a difficult spot to be in because your focus can tend to stray. That’s a big part for us this week is we are in the moment of this week. I cautioned them about looking back and cautioned them about looking forward because I have a feeling that they’re going to be asked questions about last week and the end of the year. That’s something we have to guard against. These opportunities, like I said before, are few and far between. It’s something that we need to put our full focus on. We’ve got a real bad taste in our mouth. We’ve had it now for a month, and we need to get rid of it.”

On if he has a better idea of why the team lost its edge on Sunday against the Bengals: “I don’t because I just think it is hard to predict, and especially when a team is as young as we are. That is very difficult to kind of see. You look for the tell-tale signs, and it’s even more puzzling when they’re not there when you have a good week of prep. You kind of look at how many times did we have to repeat a play in practice or how many times did you have to go back over something in a meeting? How many missed assignments did we have? Those are all indicators that the focus isn’t there, and that hasn’t been there. I said this before, if we could figure out, as coaches, how to control that and how to guarantee that that edge will be there and put it in a bottle we’d make a lot of money.”

On if the QB change played a part in the team losing its edge: “That’s a theory. It could have, but I don’t have any definitive proof that that would be the case.”

On if he has a sense of where the players’ heads are at coming off the loss:“Not a good sense today because we were only around them briefly on Monday to meet and review it. Then, just having them in the team meeting this morning, you could tell there’s a sense of focus and they’re ready to move onto the next one. I’ll probably have a better feeling after our two heavier days today and tomorrow.”

On how much of the offensive problems last week were because QB Johnny Manziel only had one week of practice with the first team: “I wouldn’t want to just drop it all on that. I think there were some issues because of with him individually that only comes from playing in a game. Real game experience, there’s no substitute for it. I’ve said that a million times. I think that had something to do with it, but as far as the other guys doing their job and they were asked to do jobs, stuff we had done, we had been executing all year. Is it part of it at quarterback? Somewhat, but I’m not willing to hang the offensive performance on his lack of practice time.”

On if he is shooting for a culture change and if the final two games are important in achieving it: “I think that’s critical. Just momentum in the offseason is critical. I’ve said it before that the NFL, like most sports, it is what have you done lately. How we started the year, a lot of people won’t remember that. We’ll be remembered by our last game, our last performance or our last month or our last two months. I think that is important as you move forward. As far as the culture change part of it, that’s something consciously and subconsciously, we’ve been working on doing here since the end of January a year ago, just to come in and implement a system. When you have the culture of losing that’s been here when it’s been only four or five wins a year going back however many years, that’s a difficult thing to overcome because it’s a mentality. When you get stuck in a rut like we’re in now it’s easy to fall back into an old habit. That’s what I’ve been saying. We need to fight our way out of it. We were close against Indy and have lost some tight games, but as I said after the Pittsburgh game in the opener, pass-fail. Right now, we’ve gotten ourselves in a mode where we’ve been failing more than we should.”

On if any of the culture changes that have been made will be lost if the team can’t finish the season strong: “I won’t say it would have been lost. I think in the short term – and I hate dealing in hypotheticals saying that things aren’t going to go well in the next two weeks – we’ve accomplished a lot. We’ll be very proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we’re going to work our butts off to finish on a positive note. To me, it would just be human nature not to feel great about it, but I think as time went on and we look back the feelings would be different. As I stressed to the players, we’re in the moment now, and our sole focus is Carolina.”

On why the run defense struggled against Cincinnati: “It’s been the answer at other times before that it was no one thing. I think part of it was just the overall when I talked about the ‘it’ factor. If you’re going to stop the run that has to be a big part of it. We did a lot of the little things wrong across the board, whether it was awareness, gathering information pre-snap to aiming points to how we played blocks. I thought sometimes we waited, as opposed to when something developed going and getting it. It was a lot of little things.”

On the challenges of dealing with someone like Panthers LB Luke Kuechly:“He has great awareness. You can tell he’s a great student of the game. You can just see that he kind of knows things are coming before they...probably one of the best at gathering pre-snap info and sliding, kind of knowing where the play is going to go. They play a lot of zone. He has great vision on the quarterback and awareness of...he kind of feels what’s around him as opposed to having to see it. He does as good a job under coverage, him and (Carolina LB Thomas) Davis both, of playing the quarterbacks eyes. That’s why (QB) Johnny (Manziel) is going to have to do a good job this week of manipulating guys with his eyes as all quarterbacks do, but it’s especially important this week with as much zone as they play.”

On what happened with K Billy Cundiff and how he feels going forward with K Garrett Hartley: “Well, this week we don’t feel that bad. He’s played in that stadium more than any of our guys have with his history in New Orleans. There was nothing below the surface will Billy. He was injured in practice and unable to kick. That’s plain and simple. He went down to the stadium to do some work, and was actually having a great day kicking and injured his knee. It stiffened up on him the next day, and we didn’t feel, he didn’t feel that he would be able to kick. That’s a position where you obviously have to...that’s not one that can be a game-time decision. It was a situation where we needed to make a move and we did.”

On if Hartley isn’t going to kick off: “(P) Spencer (Lanning) has done it before, and he did a good job of it in the game. Unfortunately, we only got the one opportunity to kick off, but I think he put it maybe five deep and decent hang-time. We’ll see. That might be based on who feels better in warm-ups because I think they’re probably very similar with depth and hang-time.”

On if he has anymore clarity on what they’re going to do at center: “No more clarity today. We’ll work our guys. We’ll see where we are rep-wise. I don’t think we’ve put it out yet, but I think we have a couple of guys that are sick today, so that might affect us just from alignment. This flu bug has hit a couple of guys, so it’s something I’ll have to see. I know there were a couple of offensive linemen involved. That might affect our rotation.”

On if he has an update on the injured guys like TE Gary Barnidge and LB Karlos Dansby: “Barnidge will work today, but he’ll...no contact. We won’t know until the end of the week just kind of how he feels running around from a comfort level, how we can protect him.”

On if he thinks DB Tashaun Gipson will be back this week: “Gip (Gipson), I’m not real positive about Gip. (Head athletic trainer) Joe (Sheehan) will know late in the week. He truly is day to day. Dansby should get some good work today. We’ll have a much better sense of where he is after today and tomorrow.”

On what he’s seen from Panthers QB Derek Anderson in case he starts: “I think he started two games for them this year and he’s 2-0, so there’s something to be said for that. I was actually in Baltimore when we drafted him, so I’ve known Derek for a long time. I think we drafted him in the sixth and had him early on the roster. Then we wanted to get him on the practice squad, and Cleveland grabbed him. The rest is history, but I’m very familiar with Derek and his skillset. It’s a credit to him that he’s been able to survive in this league for as long as he has.”

On how significant it was losing OL Alex Mack when he steps back and takes a look at the season, especially given the emphasis on the run game: “We have talked about this. When you lose a Pro Bowl player you don’t replace him. There are certain positions that are, you hate to say are more important that others but, have more of a significant impact. Center’s a guy that puts his hand on the ball every single play, and the big part of the run game, big part of the protections getting all the information correct and relayed to the other guys. You don’t replace an Alex Mack. You’ve got to replace him with one player, but there’s going to be a definite drop-off. It’s something that we’ve had to deal with. Those guys have stepped in and played well, but when you lose a player there’s going to be an inevitable drop-off.”

On if DB Joe Haden will practice today: “I don’t know. If he does anything it might be just some conditioning stuff off to the side. I don’t know if we’ll do anything…They had him in to assess where he is with it. I don’t know if he’ll take any reps today.”

On if he looks to get DB Pierre Desir more reps this week against Carolina no matter what: “I wouldn’t no matter what. The game plan will be formed and the depth chart will be formed on who gives us the best opportunity based on the matchups. Pierre was a big unknown, and I addressed this on Monday. I thought he did a heck of a job for us. I feel a lot more comfortable now and have a lot more confidence in Pierre knowing that he’s going into a game in a situation going from zero plays to all of a sudden playing just a hair under 40 and played some quality reps for us. There will be a lot less hesitation to put Pierre in at this point.”

On Bernie Kosar’s comments about the Browns’ front office and saying that no matter what quarterback they play the Browns can’t be successful: “I think that’s a little dramatic. I know I talked about this before when sometimes guys will make comments that are a little bit over the top. I have a lot of respect for Bernie. He was one of my favorite guys growing up, heck of a quarterback. He’s entitled to his opinion, but being here on the inside of it and seeing what we’re building and seeing the interaction we have between (Browns Owner) Jimmy Haslam and (Browns General Manager) Ray Farmer and (Browns President) Alec Scheiner and myself – the commitment is all there for us to successful. Obstacles are being removed for us to be successful, and I’m very encouraged about the future here, very encouraged. I’d be the last one to tell you that the odds are stacked against us to be successful because of management. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We’re in the society of instant gratification. Everybody wants it to happen now, and as much as we want that to happen, it is a process. When you build a house you’ve got to build it from the foundation. You’ve got to build the right way and make sure it’s rock solid. We’re in the middle of that. I get people are going to have their opinions and say what they say, but a lot more of that happens when you’ve lost three in a row. I didn’t hear a lot of that when we had just gotten our seventh win. We want that stuff to go away. It still comes back to bottom-line business. You’ve got to win games.”

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Can't stand his answers on the culture questions.

He is the coach. He's responsible for it. To say he doesn't know why guys didn't have an "edge" is a cop out.

He better get it figured out.

7 wins, blah. Same losing streak down the stretch as all previous years.

Progress? Color me unimpressed.

He already said "it's a process".

Bad times when they start to reach for cliches. Always feel pity for HCs when they do it. Also know it's the start of the end....

It better not be the start of the end.

Haslam and our franchise will be a laughing stock.

Stay the course. Please.

Pettine will be fine in the long run. He's not perfect. No coach is. Let him grow into the job.

Teams either take small steps forward, or huge steps forward. We are taking small step, because that's what we have to do.

Look at some other teams. Buffalo has their defense almost completely finished. They have an excellent DL. Are they closer to us? Yes. Why? Because they already had an established run game, and a defense that was coming into its own. They had the talent in place, and producing, towards rushing the passer. Last year, under Pettine, they had 57 sacks, which I believe was 1st in the NFL last year. They had a strong base on which to build.

We are building from a lower level. Like it or not, that is a fact. While the previous regimes did a decent job with their some of their top picks, lower round picks were a crap shoot.

We had 5 draft picks last year, and we have only 2 of them left. (Mingo and Bryant, with McFadden, Slaughter, and Gilkey having already been shown the door. Mingo is still a questionable player, though he has shown some progress this year. We still don't know what we'll wind up getting from him though.

From the draft the year before that, 2012, we have left Schwartz, Hughes, Benjamin and Winn. Of these, only Schwartz is a starter, though both Hughes and Winn have been key substitutes, and Benjamin was a good PR prior to his troubles this year. However, we also had Weeden, Richardson, Michael-Johnson, Miller, Acho, Wade, and Smelley. Ugh. In that draft, just 2 seasons ago, we had 1 firsts, a 2nd, 3rd, and a 5th, and 2 fourths, 2 sixths, and 2 sevenths. Out of 11 picks, we have 4 players left.

So, from those 2 drafts, we have left only Mingo, Bryant, Schwartz, Hughes, Benjamin, and Winn.

If we go back one more draft, to the 2011 draft, we has a 1st, 2 2nds, 2 4ths and 2 5ths, along with 1 7th round pick. That is 8 draft picks. Out of those we have left only Taylor, Sheard, Cameron, and Skrine. On a team that was generally considered to be bereft of talent at the time, that is quite an indictment.

Our past drafts have not replenished the team's talent, and just as importantly, the starting talent reserves. Some players are starting because we have to start someone. Taylor is OK, but hardly spectacular. Sheard is better suited to the 4-3, though that is hardly the responsibility of the player, as we have changed schemes. Cameron is an injury risk, who also did little in his rookie season. Mingo is a decent player, though hardly spectacular.

To get 7 wins out of a team generally felt to have the worst talent in the NFL before this year is quite an accomplishment. In years past, this team would have been another 3-5 win team. I truly believe that. We entered this year with no real talent at WR. No real talent at RB. We had problems at ILB. We thought that we had depth on the DL, but that was quickly depleted. last year we thought that we had depth on the OL, but that wasn't the case. Those backups from last year didn't even make the final roster this year.

Think about this, we have exactly 26 players (If I counted right) from last year's roster on this year's active roster. (plus 4 more on IR)

That means we replaced no less than 23 players from last year's roster before the 1st injury hit. That is quite a turnover for one year. 6 of those were draft picks from this year. We signed a few free agents. We also have UDFA players like Crowell, Williams, and Gabriel, who have contributed to the team.

I am extremely pleased with the way the team has responded to Pettine's leadership, and also the way Farmer has put together several of the units that were just decimated last year. We had nothing at WR and RB, and were close at ILB. Those units are much stronger this year. We are not a perfect team. We could not be a perfect team. There simply were not enough resources to make this a perfect team. However, I do believe that we are a much improved team, and that goes from leadership off the field, to players on the field.

I see your at it again DJ.

Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 18, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Thursday after practice. Below is a transcript provided by the team.

On OL Joe Thomas winning the local PFWA Player of the Year Award and what has impressed about Thomas in his first season with him: “From an NFL player standpoint and beyond that,he’s just the total package, very professional, high character. Sometimes you have superstar players that are top of their game that there’s a sense of entitlement or they don’t practice as hard. He’s the exact opposite of that. We give him a day off, but it’s like we’re protecting him from himself. He’d want to go. To me, you know you’ve got a special guy when one of your best players is also one of your best examples and your best worker. It’s not a surprise to me that you guys saw that too.”

On some examples of guys who’ve played like a Brown and played up to what he had hoped this year: “(WR Andrew) Hawkins is another guy that we have to pull him out at times because he just works so hard. Joe, already mentioned. (OL Joel) Bitonio is a guy that we’ve been very impressed with. Again, if you spend some time around us and don’t have a roster and don’t know who was who you’d never think this was his first year in the NFL, also not coming from a huge program, too. He’s been great for us. (OL John) Greco is another guy I’d put in that category. (TE) Jim Dray just goes out and never says a…You’d think he’s on a budget for words on the year. He says nothing, and all he does is go out and do everything we ask and then some. ‘Kitch’ (DL Ishmaa’ily Kitchen) on defense is a guy, great work ethic, just wants to get better, has shown improvement through the year. Another obvious one is (LB) Craig Robertson. We already talked about that when he received the Man of the Year Award. His level of play this year, a guy that’s bought into what we’re doing and very coachable. You could see the difference – again, I didn’t study him too much from last year’s tape – but you could see just a big improvement in his approach to the game, how hard he works. It’s a lot of guys. (DB) Joe Haden’s been good for us. (DB) Pierre Desir’s a good example. I talked about just kind of given a set of circumstances where it was, ‘Hey, you’re given a redshirt.’ Then all he’s done is work and found himself on the field and found himself being productive. (DB) Jim Leonhard, don’t let the looks fool you. He’s just a guy that’s a consummate professional on and off the field. There’s a bunch more. I could bore you.”

On how the season so far has been a learning experience for him in his first season as a head coach: “It’s tough for me to really reflect back on that now. We’ve got two left, and I said it the other day, none more important than this one. I don’t want to get in the mode where…It’s not time for reflection yet. I have plenty of time when we’re done to do that. We will do a very detailed, whether it’s self-assessment, self-scout, audit when we’re done and just look back evaluate everything with this program from A to Z. I’ll look at myself and ask for feedback from people, as well, that I’m close to, that I trust on, ‘Hey, what did we do well as a program? What did we not do well?’ That’s all stuff for postseason. We’ll be able to pour through that information when we get it and act on it accordingly, but our primary concern now is Carolina.”

On if a player like QB Johnny Manziel could help the Browns defense prepare for Panthers QB Cam Newton: “He could, but (QB) Connor Shaw has a good amount of mobility to him, as well. Then, a lot of the stuff we’re doing defensively at this time of year it’s more walkthrough, jog-through. So, as far as simulating full speed, we’re not getting as much as that as we would have earlier in the year. We do scale back, more tempo than reps at this point. We always kind of look at, ‘Where are we? How much full speed work or padded work do we need?’ We’re at that point now where we’ve really pushed back on both.”

On how he balances fans being frustrated with the what have you done for me lately nature of the league and wanting to build something: “To me, each week is a block and you approach it…It goes back to the whole concept of compartmentalizing. It’s hard, and I just addressed it here with Jeff is that it’s hard to look back and reflect at this point. We are, week to week, trying to stack as many wins as we can. Then, when the smoke clears we’ll do our evaluations and act accordingly. When you get into the routine of an NFL week it is really hard to do anything other than that normal routine to prepare for the opponent.”

On if he can be impacted by just going for quick fixes: “I just think when you get in coach mode that each week is a new challenge, and you get what’s thrown on the table, here’s what’s available to me. I’ve got to find a way to take what we have and look at what problems or what challenges the opponent presents, and you formulate a plan to be successful. When you go through that week you go out and give the best effort you can. Then, you’re onto the next one. Then, like I said, there’ll be a time and a place to look back on all of it and deal with more of the big picture stuff.”

On why the running game hasn’t been what he would like it to be since its big night in Cincinnati: “Same answer the run defense being inconsistent. It’s little things. Sometimes, it’s matchups. You look at a lot of plays we’re close on, and the difference between a successful run and an unsuccessful one, sometimes, is an inch or two. It’s a click, a tenth of a second or two, not recognizing something soon enough. So many plays are close. You’ve just got to get to the point where you get that it’s a subtle difference. It doesn’t take much to get some of those plays flipped. You have a 1-yard run that was real close to being out the gate. That makes a huge difference in the game. All of a sudden, some of those go your way, and the results are much different.”

On if he attributes any of that to the rookie running backs: “There’s some to it. There is a learning process for them, certainly with the scheme, that these guys are not familiar with. It’s all learning for them. As I’ve said a bunch of times, you simulate it as best you can in practice, as best you can in preseason games, but there’s just no substitute for it. That’s hard when you want results. You want instant results, but there’s also you don’t want a quick fixes. You don’t want to, ‘Hey, let’s change because of what we know.’ Let’s make sure that we’re building the structure to be solid for years to come.”

On previously saying that he wouldn’t mind seeing Browns RB Glenn Winston on the field and why he has recently been inactive for two games:“It’s not as much Glenn because Glenn did a good job for us on special teams. We were very impressed with (RB) Shaun (Draughn) when he came in here, Shaun Draughn. I think he brought a different skill set, a different mentality to that. When we make that judgment each week of, ‘Hey, who were the three guys that we want up,’ that’s been the answer each time. Glenn is a guy that we think has a bright future in this league. It just hasn’t worked out for him yet that he’s been out there on offense and gotten touches.”

On if good teams consistently have 11 guys doing the right thing on every play or if they have players that make up for another making a mistake: “It’s a variety of things. I think that could be the case. Sometimes, you have guys…You’ll watch plays and you’ll have three or four guys get a minus, but it didn’t impact the play or somebody just made such an extraordinary play that you were able to overcome it. Same with defensively, you’ll have games where you have guys that aren’t playing well or getting minuses on plays, but it didn’t affect it. The defense was still effective or we’ve had instances you’ve got 10 guys doing their job and they found the one that wasn’t and it ended up in a big play. There’s some luck involved, but obviously as coaches, you want as many of your guys as possible doing their job each play. I said it a lot – it’s them against the grade sheet. Go ahead and get a plus. Do your job, and good things will happen.”

On how often do 11 guys get a plus on a play: “We have very high standards and grade our guys very tough. It’s rare that all 11…That a coach would say, ‘Yes, I feel good. He absolutely earned a plus here.’”

On the false starts and a timeout after a two-minute warning, what was going on there and how much can be cleaned up: “We can definitely clean it up. I think that’s part of getting used to a new quarterback and a new cadence. It was all different things involved with it, but that’s stuff that falls in that category of self-inflicted wounds. You have to be able to avoid those, and the good teams do. That’s on us to get that cleaned up. Timeouts, as I said before, they’re like gold bricks. You can’t waste them, especially in the second half. The procedure penalties are just…You’re giving yards away.”

On how much of that falls on the quarterback: “Some, I wouldn’t say all, but it’s some.”

On if yesterday’s practice cleared up what the team will do at the center position this week: “Yeah, (OL Ryan) Seymour was able to get through practice. He still split some of the reps, but if I had to say today that’s where we’re going to go. I wouldn’t etch that in stone though.”

On the Browns averaging seven penalties a game and if he’s fine with seven a game: “I’d be real happy with zero.”

On what an acceptable number of penalties per game is: “I don’t have acceptable numbers for penalties. If you have a guy that’s beat for a touchdown, and he grabs a guy or he takes a P.I. (pass interference) that’s something that you’d be willing to live with. You look at each one. Could it have been avoided? We have our interaction with the league, the very private, behind the scenes interaction where we submit calls that we think are…It’s not to complain. To me, it’s more, ‘How do we teach our guys better when you’re getting an illegal contact,’ or ‘Can you please clarify?’ Sometimes, it’s professional development for the referees, as well, like ‘Hey, listen we think this was this. Please clarify.’ I think (NFL vice president of officiating) Dean Blandino has done an outstanding job with just being very open and honest with us. They admit when mistakes are made, and they help us coach. He sends out a video each week. It’s usually 10-12 minutes long, very detailed, plays from around the league. A lot of times, I’ll take that information and pass it right along to the team. I think it’s a process that’s a good one. I think, the league, we’re doing it there right was.”

On what he’s learned about DL Ahtyba Rubin this season, saying that Rubin had the best technique at stopping the run in the system and if injuries interfered with that coming to fruition throughout the season: “That’s a factor for sure. I know he’s tough, and he’s been through a lot. He’s battled through some things that maybe some other guys would have shut it down. To me, it speaks to the kind of competitor that he is. He’s played some good football for sure, and hopefully another good game this week and one in Baltimore. Who knows after that?”

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Pettine always comes across well. I think he's done a pretty decent job for a rookie HC.

I think some consistency will do wonders for our franchise going forward, football and operations wise.

Everything Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine said at his press conference on Friday

By Dan Labbe, Northeast Ohio Media Group
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on December 19, 2014 at 3:24 PM, updated December 19, 2014 at 3:26 PM

Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine met with the media on Friday in Berea. The Browns are preparing to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Here is a transcript of Pettine's press conference, courtesy of Cleveland Browns media relations.

On if he's encouraged that he might have DB Joe Haden in on Sunday: "Yeah, we'll see. It truly will come down...I mean, there's still a good amount of time for it to quiet down for him, so we'll see how he feels on Sunday."

On if he banged his shoulder on the near interception: "Yes."

On if it's a pain thing: "I'm not sure. (Head athletic trainer) Joe Sheehan gave me the complicated medical term for it. We'll just have to see how it is. I know it was something that really bothered him as the game went on. That's why we had to take him out. It's improved since, but it's a time thing. We just don't know if, by the time Sunday comes along, it's been enough time."

On how important last week's reps for DB Pierre Desir will be: "Yeah, that gives us a little assurance that he has gone in and played at a high level. I talked about that this week that there is that level of confidence now that he's gone out and shown he can do it."

On if DB Justin Gilbert will start if Haden is out: "It depends on the grouping that we're in, but in some of the groupings, yes. He'd be out there as the second corner."

On Panthers QB Cam Newton officially being listed as probable today and if he thinks he'll get the full Cam Newton experience: "Yeah, we'll see. Their offense, it's a large inventory. They have a lot of things they can go to, and we truly don't know how he is - whether he's full-go and they can open everything up with all the quarterback runs and expose him as they've done. We've prepared for what they've put on tape."

On what kind of week of practice the team has had: "Yeah, it's tough when you're inside every day. It's just cramped quarters in here just to get a good feel for it, but I think the energy has been good, the effort has been good. I think our guys have been focused. All of us, coaches and player (are) very eager to get down there and put these past couple of weeks behind us."

On if he expects K Garrett Hartley to be there Sunday: "Yes."

On what kind of jump QB Johnny Manziel can be expected to make in his second start: "It's just impossible to predict just because it's so much a function of how we play around him. Will there be improvement? Absolutely counting on that, but at the same time, as we've said all along, we have to play well around him."

On if he's confident that the running backs on the roster are the guys they need going forward into next year: "Next year is next year. We'll assess the whole roster post season, but we feel good about our guys heading into Carolina. That's the very short term vision that we have to have at this point."

On if he can assess the two guys and their seasons to this point: "It was a rookie season. They've certainly had their growing pains, but have shown flashes of being not just average NFL backs, but quality NFL backs. That's encouraging, but you have to make sure that as you move forward, the negative issues do get worked out and they learn the speed of the game and just the mental part of it comes to them and they progress as they should. Then you feel good about it, but both guys I think - certainly (RB Isaiah) Crowell given how we acquired him - have surpassed expectations."

On RB Terrance West needing to mature a little bit and if he's seen that happen since he's been here: "It just needs. To me, being in this league is all about consistency. (General Manager) Ray (Farmer) said it before. Your ability will get you here. It's your character that will keep you here. I think that's a great way to put it. That just doesn't apply to Terrance, but I think that applies to a lot of players."

On what examples he's seen this week that suggest they might get that edge back: "Just the level of focus. Guys weren't moping around. There was a buzz. There was an energy. Sometimes it's impossible to predict though. I think we've been a team - and I compare it to just teams I've been around for the length of time I've been in the NFL - that we practice well. Our guys are serious about their craft in practice, and we go out there and take the field with the right attitude. It is impossible to predict. There weren't very many signs of what was on the horizon for the Cincinnati game either, so it's just hard to say."

On if he's seen enough from Manziel to tailor a game plan around what he does well: "That's the way the game was set up last week. We're confident that we can run our offense and mold some things like we did last week, but when the play does break down – as he showed a couple times – the ability to get out of the pocket and maintain vision down the field and make a throw. We missed a couple throws or made a couple poor decisions and couple of them we didn't come down with."

On if the coaches gave Manziel tough love in the film room this week or if they have to be careful with that knowing he's about to make his second start: "As a staff, we're all about tough love. I know there are some positions where you feel that you can't be as tough as others, but I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. Guys, they want to be coached. Most guys are OK with being coached hard. I think they appreciate it. More guys appreciate it than don't as long as it's not done in a disrespectful way. If you need to get better you need to get better, and as coaches that's our task to point that out and to make sure that mistakes that are being made once aren't being made twice. I think that's something...That's the kind of staff I wanted to build. That's the way we coach."

On how he's seen defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil trying to identify that it's more than Mike Pettine's and he's just running it: "I think the great thing about Jim is I don't think he concerns himself with that. I was the same way in New York. He has enough on his plate, just as I did, of getting a defense prepared and putting together a game plan that will stop an opponent. All the stuff on the outside is exactly that. It's on the outside. Jim's an outstanding young coach, great football mind, passionate. I think he has a bright future in this league. He loves to show up to work every day, and that's infectious. He's all about winning. That's the only thing he's concerned with."

On if he has one good O'Neil story about him being overly enthusiastic: "Remind (vice president of communications) Peter (John-Baptiste). I'll get back to you on that one. I'm sure I can think of one. You put me on the spot now, but I know there are some out there."

On O'Neil's celebration at the end of the win against the Saints: "Yeah, when there are still three seconds left in the game (laughs)."

On if DB Buster Skrine has shown that he can cover the opponent's No. 1 receiver: "I think he showed it last week. He showed it last week. That was the one positive coming out of the game. They wanted to throw deep on us. I think they took seven or eight deep shots, and we defended all of them. Most of them were on 'Bus' (Skrine). I think Buster's very underrated, and he's quietly going about. I know he had a couple hiccups here and there, but if you just look at his overall body of work I think he's been outstanding."

On if Panthers WR Kelvin Benjamin is Carolina's clear No. 1 receiver: "Yeah, from a target standpoint. Olsen is a guy that's their go-to-guy but a tight end." On if Skrine is a guy that young players can look to see how to have bounce-back games and how Skrine never seems to get too down on himself:"That's critical at that position, at corner. You have to play with extreme confidence. It's the old shortened memory thing. You have to be able to bounce back, not just game to game, play to play. He's shown that resiliency. Just overall after the way we played last week I think the entire team, we're looking for a bounce-back game."

On if Manziel has to learn to compartmentalize or if he thinks Manziel is just built that way to block out last week's game: "Yeah, we're hopeful. There's no reason, kind of seeing him this week, to think that he's still down in the dumps about this past week. I think he's eager to get out there, we all are, to put that behind us."

On QB Brian Hoyer was helping Manziel on the sidelines last week and how Hoyer has responded to the quarterback situation: "He's handled it exactly how you would have expected him to handle it. He's very mature, professional, team guy, wants us to win. Does it sit well with him, what happened? Absolutely not. He's made that clear, and knowing the type of competitor that he is, it wouldn't be any other way. Absolutely, what you see with Brian is what we're getting."

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Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 23, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Tuesday before practice. Below is a transcript provided by the team.

Opening statement: “We’re back in the division this week against a very tough Ravens team. It’s been a long time – it seems like a lifetime – since we played them in Week 3, which was obviously a very tightly contested game. It came right down to the very end. Needless to say, a lot has changed for both teams in the meantime. They’re coming off a very difficult loss against the Texans. They had been playing very well and took a step backwards, but (Ravens Head Coach) John Harbaugh has always done an outstanding job of keeping them focused despite any distractions that there might be. (Ravens RB) Justin Forsett has really emerged as a go-to back this year. He’s been impressive. (Ravens WR) Steve Smith (Sr.) is still obviously playing at a very high level. I know (Ravens QB Joe) Flacco had a regrettable performance last week. Other than that, he’s been pretty solid. Defensively, they’re very consistent, very strong up front. I know they’ve had some injury issues in the secondary, but they protect those guys very well (with) the way they rush the passer. That group of four outside backers is as good and as deep as any in the league – (Ravens OLBs Terrell) Suggs, (Pernell) McPhee, (Courtney) Upshaw, (Elvis) Dumervil, and they obviously have the sack production to back that up.
“Again, this will be a typical AFC North game – very physical. Obviously (it’s) our last opportunity to accomplish a goal. We’re still trying to stay in the moment and understand that this game is meaningful for a lot of reasons and for different reasons for some guys. There are some young guys we’ve seen the last couple of weeks get an opportunity to play. We don’t know where we are yet at the quarterback spot given Brian (Hoyer’s) health. We’ll have (QB) Connor (Shaw) up, and then we added (QB) Tyler (Thigpen). I just reminded the guys todays that these opportunities are few and far between and we need to cherish every one of them. It’ll be over 250 days before we set foot on the field again in a regular season game. We have plenty of time off. It’s sooner than we wanted it to be, but we have plenty of time off coming up. We have to avoid the danger of looking past that. This is still a significant game for us, and we obviously know it’s very significant for them given their playoff status. I’ll go ahead and open it up.”

On if Hoyer is sitting out from practice today: “Yeah, he’ll rest today.”

On if Hoyer is feeling better today: “I know it’s improved. I just don’t know to what degree. I haven’t had a chance to get with him individually.”

On if he’ll start Hoyer automatically if he says he can go: “Yeah, we’ll see where he is. I just don’t know where...I don’t know if he’ll get to 100 percent. That’s just something that we’ll play by ear. We’ll have to just deal in the real circumstances that we’re faced with, and right now he would be down. We’ll see if that changes as the week goes on.”

On if he would just start Shaw to see him in a game: “No, and we’ll make that decision at the end of the week, but like I said, I don’t know if Brian can get to...it’s a hypothetical. I don’t know if Brian can get to 100-percent.”

On if this is a situation where he makes the decision before the week or if he’ll hold out until Sunday morning to see if he can get Hoyer back: “Yeah, we haven’t made a decision yet on the starter. Connor will certainly take all the reps today. It’s a very low-impact day for us anyways given we’re only two days out from a game. We’ve changed our schedule to accommodate the holiday, so it’s very much a walk through. It’s a lot of learning stuff.”

On how he decided on Thigpen and if there were any concerns about his DUI in November: “Obviously we all understand the seriousness of it and the circumstances. It was a very difficult situation for us to get a quarterback in here that’s familiar with the system on such short notice. I know that Tyler is going to have his opportunity down the road to responsibly deal with his situation, but we reached out - as it was already reported - we did reach out to (QB) Rex Grossman and to Tyler. They were two veteran guys that we had in camp. The situation...circumstances didn’t allow us to have Rex here, so Tyler was obviously there as well.”

On if he’s familiar with the details of Thigpen’s arrest: “Not ultra-familiar. I just know the circumstances. Again, it’s a court matter, and it hasn’t been settled yet. We’re comfortable with what we know, and he’s here for this week.”

On how much the fact that it’s the last game of the season and their out of the playoffs will have an effect on who he starts at quarterback and if he would send a guy out there with and risk further injury if the season is almost over:“Yeah, especially if a guy has an injury we’re concerned about it - whether it’s making it more serious. There will be some guy, there will be some decisions at the end of the week. We just don’t know where they are whether that’s (DB) Joe Haden, whether that’s ‘Hawk’ (WR Andrew Hawkins), Hoyer, that have injuries. We just don’t know where they’re going to be come Sunday. Time is going to heal it. We just don’t know if there’s enough time between now and game day. We will have other guys prepared to go if those guys cannot.”

On if he thinks the quarterback situation is more unsettled going into 2015 than it was when he got here in January: “I’m not going to reflect on that now. Our biggest concern is getting our guys ready to play this game. There’s plenty of time when the season is over to assess the situations of what certain positions look like. I’m sure you can save that one until next Monday afternoon (laughter).”

On if it’s true that Hoyer has a badly bruised bicep along with the shoulder injury: “I don’t know. I don’t have the full details on it. I just know it was the shoulder is all I was told.”

On if RB Terrance West and DB Justin Gilbert have a clean slate going into this week: “It is, but it’s also a situation where they need to respond. This is something that we’re...it’s very serious to us on how we approach our work and how we handle our business week to week. It is a tough love circumstance for both of those guys. We expect them to uphold their end of the bargain. Nothing is given whether it’s playing-time or being active or inactive, and both of those guys are very well aware of their situations. We’re hopeful that they’ll both have a good week and they can be productive for us on Sunday.”

On the QBs not having support around them and what he can pinpoint from the last few weeks that isn’t translating there: “I just think overall, it also falls back to us being productive in the run game to start with. What I’ve talked about for a long time is, given our circumstances, our best chance to be successful when we were was we stayed ahead of the sticks and we ran the ball well. We completed some shorter controlled passing game stuff to stay ahead of the sticks. We weren’t in third and long. Then there were some things defensively like in the Cincinnati game where we fell behind and had to throw it a bunch. We know that’s not us. If we’re throwing the ball more than 30 times a game, we’re in trouble. Same thing with Houston. It’s a team thing. If we’re going to have a chance, we need to play at a high level defensively, we need to run the ball, we need to protect the quarterback and keep the quarterback out of situations where the league-wide percentages are very much against us.”

On how much he thinks that is an execution thing versus maybe a scheme thing: “I think there are all the factors. Is it scheme? Is it talent? Is it execution? There are a lot of different things. As coaches, we do a self-scout in the short term, and then when the season is over we’ll be able to go back to it in depth. When we have a negative play, what caused the negative play. Was it schematic? If that’s the case, then we need to take a look at potentially what we’re doing or build in some checks or some fail-safes to get us out of a situation where a scheme would work against us. Is it technique? As we build that list, if you have a reoccurring thing technique-wise, that kind of builds your list for, this is, as a position coach, what I need to work on with these particular players. Maybe it’s technique with one individual player and we know, hey, this is what this guy needs to get cleaned up. Is it talent? Sometimes that’s something you look at where if that’s a reoccurring theme in your negative plays, then that falls into the realm of myself and (General Manager) Ray (Farmer) and the personnel staff. Hopefully we can make an upgrade an eliminate those.”

On what he thinks has allowed OL Joel Bitonio to come in and have the success that he’s had this year: “Yeah, he and (LB Christian) Kirksey and (DB Pierre) Desir are guys that...I just think it’s a maturity thing. Joel, we had a good sense that that would be the case when he came in, and he’s been as advertised and then some. It wasn’t big for him, and just when you hear the backstory about his family and how important his dad was to him and just all the circumstances that surrounded that and you know what kind of kid he is at his core, it’s really not a surprise. Like I said, if you were here and walked around and just spent time with us and you said point out the rookie, he’d probably be one of the last guys you’d point at.”

On what he was able to sense with Gilbert when he came in compared to Bitonio: “I think it’s rare that you sense that with a player, the maturity. A lot of other guy you don’t know. It’s impossible to predict. What will the transition to the NFL be like? You go from guys that are on scholarship and maybe don’t have a lot of money and all of the sudden how do you predict how they’ll react. I’m not saying that that’s his problem, but that, in general is one of the reasons why you see some...there are hits and there are misses. An NFL will invest a lot of money in trying to predict...and for some guys it’s a process. Some guys don’t handle it well early, and then they get settled in. It’s funny. I had Terrell Suggs when he was a rookie. We called him Clifford the Big Red Dog. He was just like a puppy. He was all over the place, and then I think once some of the vets got around him and got him dialed in...he had a very frustrating early start through training camp and was having a tough go of it, but got settled in. There are just so many examples of...it just takes some guys longer than others.”

On his assessment of Desir and him playing around 95 percent of the snaps against Carolina: “He did, and he did play well. That was a tough matchup for him at times. I think (Panthers WR Kelvin) Benjamin only ended up with about 40 to 50 yards receiving, and one of the catches was a heck of a catch. I thought Pierre misplayed it. If he would have gone with the other hand, he would have had a chance to at least break it up, but he was consistent. I thought that was a better matchup for him. (Panthers WR) Philly Brown was a little different skillset. He got beat on the one by him. It was a good route, good route concept versus the coverage we were in, but very pleased with Pierre. (He’s) just another good example of a young guy that prepped. You can throw (LB) Scott Solomon into that mix as well. He’s a guy that we identified and said, ‘Hey, we want to get this guy up at some point.’ We want him to do more this year than annoy our offensive linemen with how hard he played on the scout team. We thought that it would carry over to the game, and it obviously did.”

On if the problems at the end of the season are an indicator that the bottom part of the roster needs to improve: “It is a fine line. We were close this week, and you look at the Colts game. You look at some of the games earlier in the year that could have gone the other way. That’s part of the NFL. We don’t make excuses. We’re pass-fail, and we failed a lot lately. When we look at it I don’t think it’s that easy to just categorize it as, ‘Hey, our guys that stepped up just weren’t good enough,’ because that’s on us. We had opportunities. Other than in a handful of games – Cincinnati being the obvious one – there were some things that had we done differently or made some plays here or there and executed better that the result would have been different.”

On how much Shaw would do in practice up to this point in the season because Manziel was playing scout team up to the point that he was named the starter: “They split the scout team. Then, there were times where the quarterbacks split and they were in different spots on the field when we needed two. He got a decent amount of work, not a ton, but Johnny certainly wouldn’t have taken…We’ve never had a quarterback, one guy, take all the scout team reps. It was always split.”

On how LB Barkevious Mingo transitioned from being a player that rushed the quarterback to doing a lot of things and what his assessment is of Mingo’s season: “He’s still got a game left. Again, we don’t want to make excuses for a guy, but this is a guy that could have shut it down. He decided to go ahead and play with the harness. To me, that’s a credit to him. There’s a level of consistency that he needs to achieve, but I think for the most part that he trended upward as the season went on, as he got a little bit more comfortable in the role. I know we’re all looking forward for ‘Ming’ as he gets to the offseason that he can get the shoulder…I don’t know yet if it requires surgery, but just get him healed up, then get him through a full offseason and be that much better next year.”

On if Mingo is a player that will have to reinvent himself in his first few seasons in the league: “I don’t think it’s that drastic a change where it’s a full reinvent, as you call it. I just think we have a better feel for him and his skill set, and looking forward to him being healthy next year. He had a great attitude about it this year. I know that the production wasn’t necessarily there with him, but he made a lot of plays kind of behind the scenes where he caused production for other guys, whether it was causing a quarterback to step up or keeping a quarterback hemmed in the pocket or covering a tight end or keeping the quarterback from getting outside. He did a lot of those thankless jobs, and he did them well. He graded out well, at times. I just know everybody wants to just look at sack production, and for what we ask of him, that’s not his primary job.”

On if he has any updates on players that left the game on Sunday or DB Joe Haden: “Joe, we’ll see. He’s day to day. I’m not prepared to rule anybody out at this point. We have a chance on some guys to get (DB) K’Waun (Williams) back. I don’t have the list here in front of me, but we’ll have a better sense afterwards. We’ll see. We’re hopeful that we can get some of those guys back.”

On if the team hopes to have DL John Hughes back on Sunday: “We do. I don’t know when the roster move has to take place, but John will play this week.”

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Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 26, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Friday after practice. Below is a transcript from the news conference.

On heading into the season finale with the team’s third QB: “It’s a challenge. You can’t sugarcoat that, but at the same time, we look forward to it. If we go out and perform at all the other positions well, that’s going to minimize the impact. If we can stick to our formula, we still feel good about going down there.”


On if QB Connor Shaw will start: “Yeah, Connor will start.”


On when the Browns will officially elevate Shaw to the active roster from the practice squad: “Tomorrow. There will be a move by whenever the deadline is. I’m sure we’ll have a move by then”


On if QB Brian Hoyer is unable to throw the football: “He’s improving each day. Could he throw it underneath? Probably, but just as far as opening it up and having to throw a deep one... Again, we still listed him as doubtful. We didn’t rule him out completely, but I just think it would be the ability to really put something on a longer throw is what will keep him out of it.”


On Shaw receiving reps with the first team: “It’s good. He’s excited. The guys respect him because they’ve seen how hard he’s worked. It was good for him to get out there. As you can see, he made some plays with his feet. I know (offensive coordinator) Kyle (Shanahan) will have a plan that will take advantage of what he does well.”


On if the season seems like a blur, getting to the end quicker than anticipated: “In some senses, it does; in other senses, it seems like it’s been 1,000 years. I’m looking forward to next week to be able to just kind of sit back and reflect on it all and kind of go back through – I’ve got pages of notes and moving forward. Obviously, we’ve got a chance to get to 8-8. That’s important. Our guys have talked about it all week and the importance of finishing well and having momentum. That’s our biggest priority, but I think we all know that next week will be a time for reflection and self-improvement.”


On defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil’s endorsement of DB Buster Skrine and Skrine’s performance this year: “We talk about ‘Play Like a Brown,’ and Buster is one of those guys that would come out of the gate first in just how he’s prepared himself and how coach-able he is. He’s had some rough moments during the season – it hasn’t all been great – but his resiliency has been impressive, how he’s been able to bounce back. Especially when (DB) Joe (Haden) went down and having to step up the last two weeks, actually, to step up and put him on a top receiver, he’s responded and handled it well.”


On if Skrine is a player he’d like to have back in 2015: “Yeah, he’s a Brown. It’s tough when you have guys that are up (for free agency). That’s the reality of business. As far as what we’re looking for, and I already talked about it, just everything from Buster from A to Z is a guy that you want on your football team.”


On what the Browns need from offensive skill positions that the team isn’t getting enough of now: “Production. It’s a bottom line business. You need to be able to get first downs and score points, but it’s still a matter of not trying to do too much in order to accomplish that so they still have to be very narrow minded in their focus. ‘What’s my job on this play? How do I get lined up? What’s my job? If I do it full speed, then I’m onto the next one.’ Then we get a chance to make a play, make a play.”

On if the thought was that Skrine is going to be a free agent and there will be enough players to let him walk when the Browns acquired several cornerbacks through the draft and free agency before this season: “I don’t want to get into just the kind of theory behind them. Our whole thing, we said it from the beginning, you can’t have enough corners. That’s a position that we’ll always look to address, the style that we play. When you rank the positions and prioritize, I’ve always said that two positions are quarterback and cornerback.”

On WR Miles Austin helping the receivers and if it’s atypical for a player that’s on injured reserve and not under contract next season to do that: “It’s the kind of guy he is. He was wanting to come on the trip to Carolina, here it is around the holidays and maybe wanted to get away from it all for a day (laughs). He’s that kind of guy. It just speaks volumes of his character that he would want to. I think the other guys even asking him, too, ‘Hey, you’re going to be around?’ They respect him that much and just his ability that he can put it in veteran’s terms for these guys. He’s such a good role model.”

On if there is anything sentimental for him today about it being DB Jim Leonhard’s last practice before retiring: “He was the guest kicker today. He made the first one, and unfortunately for him, missed the second one. I know he keeps saying it, but I think it’ll be more than just me. There’ll be a whole line of guys trying to talk him out of it to see if he’s got anything left in him. He’s been pretty resolute, but I’m sure it’s going to be a situation where he’s going to get home and get with his family and go ahead and decompress a little bit and see where he feels a little bit later.”

On if he’s seen any difference in DB Justin Gilbert the last couple days since things have come out from teammates and coaches: “It’s tough. We’ve already spent a lot of time on that. I think we’ve all dissected that, maybe a little bit too much. I said it the other day, we’re confident that when Justin’s out there, he’ll perform, and we know that we’ll have an improved version of him next year.”

On if he thinks Gilbert will play more this week: “Just depends on how the game goes. It’s, defensively, very reactionary to personnel groupings. It just depends on the number of wide outs they’re putting out there and our groupings.”

On whether the defense must play better because of the inexperience of Shaw: “We would never go into a game thinking we don’t need to play as well defensively. That’s the formula to win, but the obvious statement is that you’re starting an undrafted rookie quarterback. I don’t think that we’re going to look to go down there and try to win one 41-38. It needs to be along the lines of 3-2.”

On what to do going into this game: “Nothing. You just don’t press, that’s the thing. You don’t feel like, ‘Hey, we have to make a play,’ and come out of structure to come and say, ‘I’m going to try to intercept this ball.’ Just keep doing your job and just keep stacking up pluses.”

On correcting the run defense during the off season due to the number of explosive backs in the division: “That’s something that, in a lot of different ways, will be addressed. Whether it’s the personnel, whether it’s something’s to tweak schematically and some technical things like how we’re teaching some certain techniques, things like that.”

On retaining certain philosophies from his time coaching in Baltimore: “I think at the center of it all is Ozzie (Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome). I just think that he’s been that steadying force throughout that I think he’s the biggest reason for their (success). You talk about success, but long-term sustained success, that’s tough to do just because of the way the cap and the draft and the way you build teams and players attrition, that they’ve been able to keep their core guys together and then their ability to add to that roster. Then, you just look at their coaching staff (from former Ravens Head Coach Brian) Billick, it was a smooth transition to (Ravens Head Coach John) Harbaugh. I just think that they function well. Again, I was there for seven years. I was only there for John’s first year, but it’s easy to see why the success has continued.”

On DB Joe Haden possibly playing this Sunday in comparison to being ruled out last week: “Just with time. That’s something that’s only natural.”

On if he’s talked with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam about whether he’ll return next season: “It’s still in season so I’m not going to address anything from a job status stand point.”

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He really doesn't like Justin Gilbert right now haha

Browns coach Mike Pettine on off-field distractions after 7-9 season ends

Pettine looks and sounds exhausted today in his press conference. I feel a bit bad for him in his first year having to deal with these ignorant, lackadasical players with poor work ethic. Perhaps he can encourage some character observation as well as skill set.

What really does "play like a Brown " mean????

Pettine said " We're building a house here and I feel we have a pretty damn good foundation." Drennan aired the presser in entirety. Petitine definitely has the faith they are going in the right direction.

LOL..............it would be pretty stupid [in terms of job security] for him to say otherwise.

Here's what coach Mike Pettine is saying about the Browns today
By NATE ULRICH Published: December 29, 2014

Browns coach Mike Pettine met with reporters Monday to wrap up the 2014 season. Below is a transcript from the news conference provided by the Browns.

Opening statement: “Just understand that we have a lot of work to do this offseason, a lot. It’s difficult because our finish was very disappointing. We talked about that with the team this morning. Disappointing to everybody involved – players, coaching staff, everybody within the organization. I think the biggest lament for us is how disappointing it was for our fans to be 6-3 and to finish 7-9. That’s hard to deal with. There are a lot of circumstances involved, a lot of reasons why that happened, but it’s stuff that we’re going to have to dissect and study and look to learn very valuable lessons from. The game at Cincinnati, I think, was our high point. Then unfortunately, from there – like I said – for a variety of reasons we were not able to put together a very good end of November and all of December. In just getting a brief amount of time to reflect, I thought we did a lot of positive things this year. I think we’ve instilled a culture change. I think we’re well on our way to having that bought into by the vast majority of our players – the ‘Play Like a Brown’ mantra. I think we have a lot of guys that typify that, but we have to get everybody on board. That’s critical. As I told the team today and I’ve said it to them in prior team meetings – and it’s something that comes from (Browns GM) Ray (Farmer) and I truly believe it having been in the league for as long as I have been – that your raw talent will get you in the league, but it’s your character that determines how long you stay. I think it’s important for our guys to realize that. Overall, the message to the team this morning – we looked back. We talked about the disappointing finish. We talked about the foundation we built, the lessons that we’ve learned, and the fact that we still feel we’re headed in the right direction. We know we are. Then just looking ahead, just talking about relaxing, giving their minds and their bodies a chance to heal up, to recharge, but understand how important this offseason is. The lessons we learned this past year do us no good if we don’t correct those mistakes, that we don’t make them again, and just knowing and planting the seed that in 2015 it’s going to be a bigger challenge for us, just for the sheer fact of the schedule – the teams that we play. I know our strength of schedule will be much more difficult. We know we have to be that much better moving into next year. Very encouraged by a lot of things and discouraged by some others, but at the same time, feel that we’re headed in the right direction. Very excited about getting some time off. Very excited about looking back and evaluating what we’ve done. I’m very excited about moving forward, making changes and accomplishing what we want to accomplish next year.”

On how he gets everybody on board: “A variety of ways, tough love being one of them. It’s something that I’ve talked about it a number of times throughout the season. I think the staff can only go so far in getting players to do it the right way. I think our veteran leaders have stepped in and understood that we have some talented guys that need to be kind of herded in the right direction. I think you have to understand what motivated each player and push those buttons to get them going. Like I said, I told the team today that the guys that do it the right way we’re thankful for, and the guys that aren’t that if they want to take it as a warning we’re going to encourage them and coach them hard to do it the right way. If we exhaust all opportunities, all options and can’t then they won’t be here.”

On if DB Justin Gilbert and QB Johnny Manziel are in that group that is out of warnings: “I wouldn’t say out of warnings. I wouldn’t say that. I think the two situations are a little bit different. I’m not going to get into…Like I said with Justin, I’m not going to open up each player’s personal file here and get into details. Justin essentially was suspended on Sunday. It was just past the 4 o’ clock deadline to do it, but it was a result – as was (WR) Josh’s (Gordon) – just as multiple violations and having been served, having been warned that a suspension would occur. Whereas, Manziel – he was late for a treatment. I’m not writing off his behavior as acceptable. It is unacceptable, especially we said that we hold the quarterback to a higher standard than everybody else. That just comes with the territory at that position. Has his behavior been disappointing? Absolutely.”

On priding tough love and it not having sunk in for Gilbert: “The results have been inconsistent. Sometimes, it has been. Other times, it hasn’t.”

On fans and media saying it’s time to cut ties with Manziel and Gordon and if he would do that: “We’re going to take our time here. We’re going to step away from the emotion of it all, get some time off, come back. We’ll have all the players written up and evaluated, and in a much less emotional, evaluate the roster, talk about each position, talk about what changes need to be made. That’s something that, I’m sure at all positions, will be discussed. How do the players on our roster, given where they are now, should they be here or should they not be here?”

On if there is a flaw in the draft process with the first two picks having problems living up to the ‘Play Like a Brown’ mantra: “It’s something we’ll certainly discuss. I know the use of just different type of the testing that you have now at the combine, and to me this is more stuff Ray, but just the scouting process of getting into the schools and knowing who you can trust and who you can talk to, gathering as much information as you can as possible. Then, it’s also tough because you have to decide how much of this can you write off to a guy just being…He’s young. He’s immature. I’ve seen a lot of guys come into the league that if you just evaluated them on their rookie year that you would have thought they would never make it, and these are guys that are playing 10, 11, 12 years. It’s an inexact science. That’s why you look at drafts, you look at the hit rate on draft picks – it is very inexact because it’s impossible to predict. We recognize that these guys have talent, but at the same time, feel that it’s on us as well to get them to meet us more than half way and do it the right way.”

On if there was anything in Gilbert’s background that they weren’t comfortable with or if some of the things with Gilbert weren’t surprising: “I won’t get into the details of a draft report. Like I said, we do a full work-up on all the guys. It’s rare that you have a guy that’s just, ‘Hey, this is a 100 percent clean, All-American kid, can’t-miss prospect.’ It’s rare given the amount of information you get.”

On Manziel having an internal battle about making the right choices and what the Browns can do in the offseason to help Manziel: “We’re going to do what we can. It’s difficult with the rules. We can still have interaction with him from a non-football standpoint. The rules are very clear that he can’t come in here. We can’t have a structure for him, ‘Hey, come in. Watch film.’ With all of our guys, we formed an action plan with the staff, as far as how we’re going to handle the offseason. Every one of them is tailor made to that individual player.”

On Gordon’s place in the franchise: “Clearly a disappointing way for him to end the year, but at the same time, Josh right now is a Cleveland Brown. We want to take care of our own, but at the same time, we’re going to hold our guys accountable. I think everybody recognizes the talent that’s there, but this isn’t an individual sport. You have to be accountable to your coaching staff. You have to be accountable to your teammates, more importantly. That’s the thing that we have to get right with Josh. It’s not the ability, but at some point you get tired of using the word ‘potential.’ This offseason for him puts him squarely in a crossroads with us.”

On if he gets the sense that Gordon wants to be here and if that’s a concern at all: “It’s a better question for him whether he wants to be here or not. We want him here, but we want him here with him being accountable, with him having the ability to function as a member of this team who’s in good standing.”

On how he reconciles talent with a player that has a lengthy record of not being accountable: “It’s like a scale, and at some point it tips. Like I said, all this will be discussed. Like I said, we’re going to get out of the emotion of it, take off a week, and then get back together and have very lengthy meetings and discuss how personnel sees our players, how the coaches see our players and look at where our needs are and where the roster stands and make the best decisions for the Browns moving forward.”

On how he thinks the behavior issues reflect on him: “I don’t concern myself with that too much. To me, because it’s not about me. It’s about the Cleveland Browns, and it reflects badly on the organization. That’s what pains me is that, like I said yesterday, we had 40-plus guys out there busting their tails in a game that to a lot of people was meaningless, but it wasn’t meaningless to us. The fact that we were able to have a lead with eight minutes or whatever it was left in the game and guys playing their hearts out, guys basically in tears in the locker room after the game because they had played so hard – that’s what pains me because we have so many guys here that are doing it the right way. But to have two or three or four or five guys that aren’t doing it that are drawing a ton of negative attention to this organization, that’s what’s disappointing.”

On where the quarterback situation stands going into 2015: “Still very much a question mark. We all know (QB) Brian’s (Hoyer) due to become a free agent. The sample size on Manziel was not very big, and on the surface not very encouraging. (QB) Connor Shaw went out there and battled. Here’s a kid that was peeing blood last night, took a shot in the kidney. He took some major shots during the game and got up. It’s a credit to him. He wasn’t coming out. He showed some things yesterday. I would say our quarterback picture is muddy at best and obviously will be a major point. When we allocate time to discussing each position I have a sense that quarterback will be given the most.”

On a player taken in the first round assuming that he’d be the guy in his second season and if he saw anything from Manziel that makes him convinced that he needs to have another option at quarterback: “Yeah, we can’t assume anything. Can’t. I think each year’s different. We’ll assess the position, and go ahead and make what we feel are the best moves for us in 2015. To me, there should be no sense of entitlement because he was drafted where he was drafted, therefore he is the starter. We’re not going to connect those dots.”

On if he wants to resign QB Brian Hoyer: “I want what’s best for the Browns, and that’s all going to be part of the evaluation. I think Brian did some really good things for us. I don’t know where Brian is with Cleveland, and I’ll be very interested to hear where we are from an organizational standpoint. Personally, I have a very good relationship with Brian. He was a big part of our success this year, but it’s something that I just don’t know if the circumstances can come together for him to be back here next year.”

On if he was more excited about QB Johnny Manziel before his performance in the six quarters he played this season: “Well, I think some of it was just hard to judge because one, he wasn’t getting starters reps throughout the year and then two, didn’t play very well around him. You had some balls dropped. You had some breakdowns up front, didn’t run the ball well, got behind the sticks. The sample size is small, so it’s...were we expecting him to go out there and light it up? Internally I think it was unrealistic to expect him to go in there. If we felt that way then he would have been our starter from the beginning, but he did show flashes of what he’s capable of with some of the balls he threw and some of the plays he made with his feet. It’s just still very early to tell just what his future holds for us.”

On if there wasn’t consensus in the organization supporting Hoyer and if that’s the case, if that situation was irreconcilable and if that’s why they’re leaning on him not coming back: “No, given that we have a much bigger sample size with him as far as his body of work, that will all get discussed. We’re going to look at every option available, and Brian will be one of them. Whether we have a consensus in the room, I don’t know. Sometimes, especially with that position, it’s rare that you have a consensus, but as far as getting that position right moving forward, we’ll spend the most amount of time on it and we’ll leave no stone unturned.”

On if he’d still like to see Manziel compete for the position in 2015:“Absolutely. It’s very difficult coming out of his last season in college and that whirl-wind of the draft. Then he’s here, and it’s such a short, short period of time. Now you get a full real offseason where football is your full time job, and now you get through all the offseason stuff here - the OTAs, the mini-camps. You see so many guys make such big strides from year one to year two once they finally realize what the NFL is all about and all the things that go into preparing for a season.”

On if it’s perplexing to him that a guy can say all the right things and speak well but make a lot of mistakes and repeat the mistakes: “Well, I’ve had great talks with him, but I do agree with your point. He realizes this - that at some point the talk is cheap. He’s gotten himself to the point where his actions to me are much more important than what he says.”

On what Manziel needs to do for the next three or four months before he comes in for offseason conditioning: “This is for all of our guys, and I’ve already talked about it. We have a tailor-made plan for all of them whether it’s strength and conditioning. We’ll be able to get information out to them. We can’t physically...we can’t coach them through stuff, but we’re able to arm them with stuff leaving the building. A lot of it is they are on their own. He will be in town here some. I know the guys are all taking a little bit of time off, but guys that are injured are required to be back in Cleveland until they are cleared as healthy and he’s on that list.”

On if he thinks Manziel needs more micro-managing: “Micro-managing comes in what form? To me, if...how do we control a player’s behavior outside of the building? When his actions start to affect his job as they did, then he was fined for the miss, but at some point they have to take ownership of themselves and their career and do it the right way or they won’t be here. I just don’t know what we can do for our guys. They’re men. I don’t know what we can do for them outside of the building that’s going to help them. They have to be able to do it for themselves.”

On if he thinks everything is on the table as far as the quarterback position goes including looking at draft prospects: “Yeah, I think we’re a ways away from assessing draft needs. Again, we’ll look at every possible way to upgrade every position. We’re fortunate that we do have the draft picks that we have - two in the first round. That gives us some leverage and some options on some things that we can do, but we will be tasked as a coaching staff and as a personnel department to get creative and find how we can upgrade, not just quarterback, but every position.”

On if he anticipates making any changes to the coaching staff: “At this point, I anticipate the vast majority of the staff back. There might be a change or two, but I was going to get away and talk with the coordinators and just kind of get a feel for it. They do their own evaluations of their own guys as I do. We’re going to compare notes and see if we need to make any changes.”

On how frustrating it is that the day after a hard fought game most of the questions are about distractions off the field or the same two or three plays:“It is frustrating, and that’s why I didn’t want yesterday to turn into that because it was right on the heels of it. I understand that this is more the end of the year than it is the day after a game type deal. It is frustrating, but we’re not going to sweep our problems under the carpet. If a player warrants being suspended or being disciplined, we’re going to do it. When you suspend a player, it becomes public. When you deactivate a player, it’s public. When a player’s reps are cut, questions will be asked. It becomes public. We’re not going to be that organization that sweeps stuff under the carpet just for the sake of appearing functional on the outside. I would rather be functional internally and appear dysfunctional on the outside because we’re going to do things the right way. We don’t have a lot of rules, but the rules that we have are pretty simple ones. We want our players to follow them, and when they break the rules, there will be consequences. In year one it is frustrating, to your point, to have it end like this. Especially when you’re losing, a lot more attention goes to the negative, but as I’ve referenced before and used the analogy, we’re building a house here and we’re making sure that it’s on a damn good foundation. I feel that these are all growing pains in order to do that.”

On if he has a feel for what he has in RB Terrance West yet: “Well, we’ve shown glimpses, and the one thing I feel is if a guy shows it - that he’s capable of doing it - then he’s capable of doing it on a much more consistent basis. A lot of that is Terrance doing things the right way - making sure that he prepares himself properly, that he handles his business well on the practice field, in the meeting room, that he’s doing everything that we’re asking of him. I’m confident that in year two...I think the light came on for him this past week and he played well yesterday. I hope that momentum carries for him in the offseason when he sees, when he does it the right way, what he’s capable of. I think the same is true for some of our other guys as well.”

On if he’s still confident in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and his system and if he expects to keep him: “Yes. Yes.”

On if he sees flashes from DB Justin Gilbert that tells him if he can get through the other stuff he’s got a good cornerback there: “We’ve definitely seen flashes of his ability, and we’ve seen it in games as well. I could make a 20-play cut-up of him where he’d look like one of the elite corners in the league, and I could make another 20-play cut-up where you wouldn’t take him until day three of the draft. In this league, it’s all about being consistent. When you show you can do it at a high level, we joke with our guys. We’re like, ‘Caught on tape. We know you can do it.’ Now that needs to be done not one out of four plays - get it to two out of four, get it to three out of four, get it to nine out of 10. Then you feel good about where a guy is.”

On if he’d ideally prefer a proven veteran at quarterback next year: “We’re going to discuss all the options. Obviously common sense would tell you that, but at the same time, we have plenty of time to get that figured out. Opening day, what I said before - I’ve bored you guys to death with it - we want to put the quarterback out there that gives us our best chance to win.”

On if the off-the-field issues with Gilbert are restricting him from making those plays nine out of 10 times: “To me, there’s definitely a correlation. I won’t get into details, but like I said, I’m hopefully that given a full offseason and spending some more time getting to know the kid and everybody here that works with him because we all see it. I think that’s one of the reasons - and I’ve referenced this before - one of the reasons that the veteran players are hardest on him is because they see how good he is. They see how good he can be. They just know that he’s inconsistent. They’re trying to pull him along for the ride because they all see it. They all do.”

On how Manziel ended up starting the most important game of this year: “Just given where we were when you go back to before that game, coming out of the Colts game, we just felt that the quarterback play had deteriorated, had been narrowed down for several weeks. It had gotten to the point where it was risk-reward. We knew that Johnny, for us, was the big unknown. It obviously didn’t work out. The unfortunate part of it is we did not play well around him to the point where if we had all played well around him, we would have gotten a much better picture of what we had. That to me was the most disappointing aspect of that whole stretch.”

On how the fact that they didn’t play well around the quarterback was different when Hoyer played: “It is similar, but like I said, the quarterback play, when you still could evaluate it, had gotten to the point where we felt it warranted a change.”

On if there were veteran players that didn’t believe in Manziel and subconsciously didn’t play as well for that reason: “I can’t answer that question. That’s such a...very much a hypothetical.”

On if this whole Manziel thing is just too much and whether he buys in or not it’s all going to be about every move he makes on and off the field: “I don’t know about that. I just think time can heal a lot, and I think going out and playing well - that can quiet a lot of that stuff down. I don’t think that...it will certainly come up when we discuss it all. I think all the circumstances surrounding it will come up, but I don’t see that as being something that’s going to be a determining factor.”

link

Thanks for the article. I infer that his crap list is as follows:

1. Gordon. We will probably try to move him.
2. Gilbert. Must have been a serious butt hole, but will probably give him another chance.
3. Manziel. Will be given another chance, for sure.

He sounded pretty upbeat about Manziel which i did find surprising. Set to bring in competition for Manziel but sounds like he wants no part of Hoyer returning.

Gilbert he sounded disappointed in.

Gordon, he sounded ticked off with him.

West, he sounded excited but wanting a lot more out of him.

I thought it was a pretty straightforward presser. some good stuff in there. Sounds like they want to give Johnny every chance to be the guy but he has to show more both on and off the field. Ball is in his court now.

J/C

Anyone listen to Farmer's presser?

He stopped just shy of calling our QB coach a liar.

concerning what?