CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The New Year often brings time for reflection on the year that has passed and the year to come.
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski doesn’t want his team to do either and is keeping his team focused on the moment.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from New Year’s Day Zooms.
Finish strong – With Sunday’s game in Cincinnati being inconsequential to the playoff race, head coach Kevin Stefanski has yet to decide if he will rest key players but is keeping them focused on the Bengals. “We're working through all those things,” Stefanski said. “We'll have a plan, obviously. Like I mentioned you guys before, we want to finish strong, so we'll have a plan moving forward, but I'll update you guys as we get going through the week.” The Bengals were eliminated with their loss to the Chiefs and the Browns were locked into the No. 5 seed and will travel to the winner of the AFC South. While Stefanski will consult with EVP/GM Andrew Berry and chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, the decision on playing time will be his. “I think every decision you make, you're just trying to make what is in the best interest of your football team,” Stefanski said. “Whether you play your guys, rest your guys, and as you know, you can't rest everybody. There's roster limitations too. We took care of business last week, but we have to finish strong. That's our mentality. That's what we're trying to do.” This is the second time in four years under Stefanski the Browns qualified for the playoffs but the first time they’ve clinched with a week to play. “Very exciting times for the Cleveland Browns, but our focus this week is for the Bengals, and going 1-0 this week,” linebacker Sione Takitaki said. “It's easy to look forward, but our whole focus right now, this week is to go 1-0 against the Bengals.” No one Monday wanted to talk about the post season or resting their legs. “Right now we're not even looking at the playoffs,” running back Jerome Ford said. “I'm just continuing my routine and getting ready for the Bengals right now. So just making sure my routine is still intact and making sure that I'm ready when my numbers called on Sunday to play against the Bengals.”
Giving thanks – Browns receiver Elijah Moore, who was hospitalized due to a head injury suffered in the second quarter of last Thursday night’s clinching win over the Jets, expressed appreciation for the care he received and support from the team and fans in three posts on his X account Monday. “Thank you to everyone for the love, support and to all who lifted me up in prayer since Thursday night,” Moore posted. “Thank you to the Cleveland Browns doctors and the staff at University Hospital for taking amazing care of me. I feel extremely blessed to be feeling much better and am excited to get back to work with my brothers as we embark on this playoff run for the city of Cleveland! Most importantly all PRAISES to the MOST HIGH for his covering AND PROTECTION and everything else in between. All of this is simply a reminder of how extremely lucky and blessed we are to be doin what we love, let alone waking up everyday. You never know how quick it can be taken away. Love love love and blessings.” Moore was released from the hospital Friday morning. Ford was close by when Moore went down. “It was really scary,” Ford said. “I ran over there to pick him up and everybody could see what happened on the play, but he wouldn't get up and he kind of jolted and it was scary for me. Especially seeing a teammate like that. And I didn't know what was going on. I just knew he needed help, and I wanted to make sure that he got the help as fast as possible.” Thankfully Moore, who caught five passes for 61 yards and a touchdown prior to the injury, eventually got up and walked off with trainers before being quickly ruled out.
Big block – Ford had a significant hand in helping the Browns clinch against the Jets with a pair of touchdown catches, including a 50-yard touchdown catch and run. “Ever since Nick [Chubb] went down, we kind of been like, we’re going to play for Nick and that kind of stuff,” Ford said. “But my favorite part about the play actually is if you look at the very end of the play, you can see Marquise Goodwin shoot across the field and just knock somebody out. And I felt like that was a big help in the touchdown and I didn't realize it until I watched it again on film. I'm like, 'Dang, he really smacked that dude.' So, yeah, that's my favorite part of that play.” Ford is tied with Kareem Hunt with nine total touchdowns this season. Hunt’s have all come on the ground while Ford has rushed for four and caught five more scores.
Number 5 – The Browns have already had Deshaun Watson, P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Joe Flacco win games for them this season. With the opportunity to rest a few players – including Flacco, could newly signed quarterback Jeff Driskel get a chance to become the fifth? Driskel was signed off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad on Friday. “[He’s], a guy that we felt good about bringing in,” Stefanski said. AVP [Alex Van Pelt], has been with him before when he was in Arizona. So, there's a lot of carryover from what we do and what they do in terms of terminology. So with Dorian's (Thompson-Robinson) injury, getting a guy in here that we felt good about, but we'll see on all that.” Driskel has appeared in 23 career games with 11 starts with the Bengals (2018), Lions (2019), Broncos (2020) and Texans (2021-22) where he has thrown for 2,228 yards with 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
