Berea, OH (92.3 The Fan) – With Hue Jackson poised to get more involved with the offense this week, quarterback Baker Mayfield doesn’t feel a complete overhaul is needed.
“I think a lot of things are said postgame emotionally, but I think the thing around here is we do not need to reinvent the wheel,” Mayfield said Wednesday. “We need to perfect our craft. You look at the good teams around the league, they work hard at what they do and they become very, very good at it. We have what we have. We do not need to try to change too much. We just need to get better at what we are doing.
“There is not secret recipe for success, besides working your [butt] off with what you have.”
Jackson clarified on Monday that he did not mean during his postgame comments in Tampa he would assume or interfere with Todd Haley calling plays and according to Jackson, noting much has changed behind the scenes this week.
“I've just been [helping by] being me,” Jackson said Wednesday. “Looking at things, getting a real good feel for how we're doing things. We're moving in a great direction. We just have to continue to grind on little things as we continue to move forward. I've done everything I normally do. I have confidence in Todd [Haley].”
Start me up – The Browns are spending this week trying to rectify their problems starting slow in games. They’ve scored just 6 offensive points in the first quarter and 40 in the first half as a team while racking up 111 second half points this season.
“We know we need to turn that around,” Jackson said. “That is one of the things I think we are all looking at very closely on how we can get started much faster and try to take that mentality that we have in the second half and put it in the first half.
“We have to play better in the first half of games that way so it gives us a chance in the second half to really, hopefully run away with some games if we can continue to do what we have done in the second half.”
Mayfield has a theory.
“Have to eliminate the minus plays,” Mayfield said. “We had two penalties – one penalty on the first drive, one on the second drive and then the third drive had a negative run. If we do our job, we will eliminate those things and we will be in a much better position to take points and any points are good points. We have to feel the awareness. We have to score when we have a chance. We have to do that and be proud to do that.”
Saturday night fever – The Browns’ Dec. 15 game at Denver is scheduled for an 8:20 p.m. eastern, 6:20 p.m. mountain kickoff the NFL announced Wednesday.
The game will be televised by NFL Network nationally and on CBS 19 locally in Cleveland.
Flag leaders – The Browns are tied with the Steelers and Chiefs as the most penalized teams in the league.
All three teams have been flagged 58 times. The Steelers have played one fewer game and are coming off their bye week.
Likely out again – Jackson said that linebacker Joe Schobert (hamstring), cornerback E.J. Gaines (concussion) and receiver Rashard Higgins (MCL) will likely not play this week.
Center JC Tretter, who is in a walking boot for his high ankle sprain, is expected to play again this week.
Injury report – Did not practice: CB E.J. Gaines (concussion), WR Rashard Higgins (knee), LB Joe Schobert (hamstring), S Damarious Randall (groin/ankle), C JC Tretter (ankle), DL Chris Smith (personal/not injury related)
Limited: TE David Njoku (knee)
Full: LB Genard Avery (elbow), TE Darren Fells (knee), LT Desmond Harrison (ankle), DE Emmanuel Ogbah (elbow), S Jabrill Peppers (ankle)
