BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Jacoby Brissett has done exactly what the Browns believed he would do while filling in as the starter while Deshaun Watson serves his 11-game suspension.
But many continue to point to Brissett’s three interceptions – all of which have come in the final three minutes of losses to the Jets, Falcons and Chargers.
Offensive coordinator Alex van Pelt made it a point to express how pleased he and the team are with their veteran backup’s play to date.
“I think he is playing at a really high level, minus those two plays or that one play in the red zone especially,” Van Pelt said Thursday. “Everything has been really good. I want to make sure he understands that we are very happy with his play. He is playing extremely well for us right now.
“If we just eliminate one play or really three plays in those games, it is a different ballgame. Proud of him what he has been able to do for us offensively. A great leader again. Really showing his leadership here in the last few weeks.”
Van Pelt also put the three interceptions into context.
“The two-minute drives where we need points and we need a lot of yards with little timeouts, you have a tendency as a quarterback – we ask him to do that – the tighter the game, the less time on the clock and the less timeouts, we have to be more aggressive in taking those chances,” Van Pelt said. “Two of those came up in those situations. The red zone interception is something he would love to have back last week.
“Really, he is playing at a high level, minus really the one play. The two-minute interceptions, you are going to have those because you are trying to push the ball down the field into tight windows.”
Straighten ‘em out – Kicker Cade York missed two field goals wide right in last week’s loss to the Chargers, including the potential game winner from 54 yards with 11 seconds left.
“I know he will be just fine because he is in a good place mentally,” special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said. “He kicked the ball really well yesterday.
He has never really lost his confidence. He was just as disappointed as any one of us and as any one of our fans.”
For whatever reason, the west end of FirstEnergy Stadium was a problem for York last weekend. Typically kicking into the east end – or Dawg Pound – is more challenging.
“We actually want that side of the field more than the other side,” Priefer said. “It wasn’t even that windy to be honest with you. It was a beautiful day. I don’t think that wind or that side of the field had anything to do with it.”
York’s two misses are glaring because of the final score, 30-28, and only adds to the pressure of the rookie to make every kick with the Browns three losses coming by a combined six points this season.
“It is crazy, but it has been like that across the league. It has been a crazy year,” Priefer said. “Every game comes down to one score or a field goal here or a touchdown there. It kind of makes it exciting. It ages me quickly. I think because he went through that situation, he will learn and he will continue to improve.”
No JOK-ing around – With the defense reeling and everyone trying to figure out why, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah doesn’t believe they need more pep talks during games.
“There’s a lot of vocal leadership on the sidelines and things like that but at this point, you know, vocal leadership is one thing but the application in the game is another,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “So that’s what we’re focused on right now. I think we’ve had enough of the vocals and [need] more of the play I would say.”
Owusu-Koramoah also had a simple solution to the tackling woes, which are being emphasized with extra drills during practice this week.
“It's about just wrapping up, tracking, being able to run your feet through the tackle,” Owusu-Koramoah said. “Making sure we execute, get more hats to the ball. Gang-tackling. Just doing our job, it goes back to that. Goes back to fundamentals. We've been talking about that through now. That's what it goes back to.”
Special stuff – Nick Chubb’s ability to dispose of defenders effortlessly with the ball in his hands harkens back to the days of when Jim Brown did the same.
“He's pretty impressive, some of those runs, broken tackles, missed tackles are pretty special stuff,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “Sometimes plays only block for five or six yards, he has to make a guy miss and a lot of the times he does make guys miss. That first touchdown run was pretty impressive stuff and the guys that he was doing that to are great players in this league, so it's impressive what he does and he's just a fun guy to have back there to block for.”
Chubb scored twice against the Chargers, including a spectacular 41-yard run. It was another reminder for Bitonio and the offensive line to always finish blocks for their powerful back.
“You know he always has a chance to break one away,” Bitonio said. ”So I think it's big for us to finish our blocks until the last second because he can break an arm tackle or he can make one extra guy miss, so if you can just stay on your guy, finish a little bit longer, he has a great chance to break one.”
Chubb leads the NFL in rushing through five games and he’s the only player in the league with 100 scrimmage yards in every game this season.
Quote of the day - “No, I wouldn’t say too aggressive. We got a lot of playmakers on the defense, obviously, so it gets frustrating sometimes when the ball is not being ran your way, thrown your way, you’re trying to do extra stuff to make a play. But sometimes you’ve just got to … if your job, like I said, is secondary contain, make sure I’m back there in case the ball breaks out. And if your job is to set the edge, make sure you’re there to set the edge. We say no “Peeping Toms” so don’t do this and try to get in another gap. That’s the main issue, but it shouldn’t be a hard fix.” Cornerback Greg Newsome’s response when asked if Joe Woods’ defense is too aggressive.
Injury report – DNP: RT Jack Conklin (not injury related-rest), DE Jadeveon Clowney (ankle, knee, elbow), DE Myles Garrett (shoulder, biceps, hand), OT Joe Haeg (concussion), CB Denzel Ward (concussion); LIMITED: LG Joel Bitonio (elbow), DT Taven Bryan (hamstring); FULL: WR Amari Cooper (not injury related-rest), RB Demetric Felton (wrist), S Ronnie Harrison (illness), DT Perrion Winfrey (ankle)
Up next – Practice Friday.