Final Thoughts on the Browns-Jaguars
A day after the Browns last-minute loss to Jacksonville and it turns out we may have not seen the last of Jake Delhomme after all.
Quarterback Colt McCoy sprained his left ankle during the game against Jacksonville and, as of today, it’s not clear how long he will be out.
“I’d like to wait until Wednesday to see how it does shake out in terms of where [McCoy] is,” Coach Eric Mangini said in The Plain Dealer. “That’s really what I’d like to do. We’ll figure it out at that point.”
If McCoy can’t go, the Browns could return to opening day starter Delhomme, who is “back to 100 percent, or as close to 100 percent as anyone is,” according to Mangini.
Unless McCoy is 100 percent for Sunday’s game, there is no reason to play him. Delhomme or Seneca Wallace, who was warming up on Sunday when McCoy was injured, should take over. Quarterback is one of the few positions on the team where the Browns have actual depth and they shouldn’t be afraid to use it.
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After wondering why defensive back Sheldon Brown didn’t try to tackle Maurice Jones-Drew on Drew’s 75-yard catch and run, it was interesting to read Brown’s rational.
“I’m trying to tackle with one hand and reach and rip the ball with the other hand, and he just runs out of it, kind of full speed,” Brown said in The Plain Dealer. “If I tackle him and just get him on the ground, uh-uh. The way I play the game is I’m trying to figure out a way to create a turnover.”
So … with the clock running down and your team leading by three points, tackling the opposing player with the ball is not a priority? OK then.
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Like we said yesterday after the game, this Browns team is still learning how to close out games and hold on for the win.
Linebacker Scott Fujita agrees that, like anything else, learning to win is a process.
“The last couple weeks it’s just a play here and a play there, and when you don’t make those big plays at those critical moments in the game, that’s what prevents you from winning,” said Fujita in published reports. “It’s disappointing. This team has shown a lot of progress. There are a lot of things to be proud of, but it’s just that the margin of error is so small in this league, and I feel like we’ve learned that more than anybody this season.”
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Finally, we have to comment on the hoo-haa that was clogging the Internet today about Eric Mangini and the temperature of the office furniture in Berea.
First, there was this in Bleacher Report:
- After the fifth Browns loss this season in the fourth quarter, the question now has to be asked again: Will Eric Mangini survive to coach another season in the NFL?
Really? Why does that question need to be asked? So one bad game, where the team played without Josh Cribbs and two starters (Fujita and Eric Wright, lost on the first series of the day) and with an injured rookie quarterback, wipes out the previous three games? Seriously?
Later in the day news came out that hoople head Colin Cowherd had “inside information” that Mangini would be fired today. Well, the day came and went and Mangini is still in town.
What possible reason would the Browns have for making a move like that? Even if the team was playing poorly (they’re not), or worse, like the Bengals, in-season coaching changes don’t solve anything.
And they certainly don’t occur with teams that are making discernible progress everywhere but the win column.
And there was this Tweet from the PD’s Tony Grossi: “Browns Mangini back on hotseat after uncanny loss to jags. He looked it too after the game.”
Unbelievable.
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We guess that, on some level, its good that the passion still surrounds Browns football and people are talking about a 3-7 team. But that passion needs to be grounded in reality and people need to not go off half-assed just because the Browns lost another close game.
After all, it’s nothing a trip from Carolina can’t fix.
Red Right 88 