CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Jameis Winston is a gunslinger.
Truth be told, Winston appears to be Kevin Stefanski’s kind of quarterback but interceptions cost him and the Browns again Monday night in Denver they overshadowed what was an incredible night for the veteran quarterback.
Here’s a few Brownie Bites from Stefanski’s post Monday Night Football zoom on Tuesday.
Pick me – Jameis Winston has a night for the ages in Denver, but it was overshadowed y three critical mistakes that cost the Browns 14 points and ultimately the game. While Winston prays for the lord to deliver him from pick-6s, Stefanski explained what happened on both Broncos returns for touchdowns. “Not all interceptions are created equal and think of a tip ball that's way different than throwing it right to the defense,” Stefanski said. “So I think that we had some miscommunication on the first one. The second one I think just was not a great throw by Jameis. He wanted that ball more outside and like I talked about before, he's not going to be perfect. You're going to miss throws. That's part of playing this position. So all of it, you need to learn from each one of those. So as a quarterback, learning from each one of these reps is so important, but I don't want our quarterbacks to play a style where they're so careful and they're ultra conservative. They're not going to throw the ball down the field. That's just not a recipe for moving the ball either. So he'll continue to learn from these and learn from each one of these and try to get better.” Winston threw for a team single game record 497 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. In five starts Winston has thrown 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Six of those have come in two games. “He's a player that I believe can get better and part of that will be taking care of the ball but don't want to lose sight of some really good moments from him last night,” Stefanski said.
Limited Chubb – Running back Nick Chubb played 29 snaps Monday night. At one point Chubb was sidelined for 25 consecutive plays to end the first half and based on the reaction from Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Chubb wasn’t featured as much as they expected. “I think every one of these games calls for a different plan, if you will,” Stefanski said. “And sometimes you go into it thinking it's going to be one type of game and it changes or one player is maybe feeling it a little bit different than the other guy... We're very happy with that room in total. We trust really all those guys in there. And there'll be some moments where you lean into Nick for certain schemes and certain moments and there'll be times when you lean into Jerome [Ford]. I think it's really based on a bunch of different factors.” Both Ford and Chubb finished with nine carries. Ford had 41 yards and Chubb 21. Chubb also caught two passes for 24 yards and a 5-yard touchdown that gave the Browns a 32-31 fourth quarter lead.
Where’s Wills – Left tackle Jedrick Wills has missed the last three games and four of five due to a lingering knee injury. Stefanski sidestepped a question as to why the team elected not to put Wills on injured reserve. “We're trying to see if what this week will hold,” Stefanski said. “He's trying very hard to make it back and I'll have more updates as we get into the work week tomorrow.”
JOK still out – Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah likely isn’t coming off injured reserve this week despite being eligible. Stefanski ruled him out for this week at Pittsburgh. “I don't really have an update right now,” Stefanski said. “I'd rule him out for this game, but I'm not going to go much further past that.” Owusu-Koramoah was carted off and taken to a local hospital and released the following morning after suffering a neck injury October 27 against Baltimore.
Hard Knocks – The in-season edition of Hard Knocks featuring the AFC North debuts Tuesday night on HBO and streaming on MAX. Crews began filming in Berea last week but the production isn’t a distraction. “No, it really isn't,” Stefanski said. “And it's all four teams in the division so it all sharing it.”
