BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Myles Garrett isn’t the only player Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski may campaign for during awards season plus all eyes are on the Texans and not the multitude of playoff scenarios this weekend.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from Wednesday.
Another nominee – On Monday Stefanski made the case for Myles Garrett being the Defensive Player of the Year despite being held sackless the last four games. If quarterback joe Flacco keeps doing what he has in his first three starts, Stefanski will have to launch another campaign – Flacco for Comeback Player of the Year. “Who knows what constitutes as a comeback,” Flacco said. “I've only played three games. I mean it's kind of crazy. Come back from not going to training camp and bussing kids around. I mean, who knows?” Flacco tied Vinnie Testaverde for the most touchdowns thrown – seven – in his first three starts and broke Baker Mayfield’s 2018 record for most passing yardage in his first three starts. What has helped Flacco is getting him outside the tackles at times. “I always think it helps when we can facilitate getting me on the move and stuff like that,” Flacco said. “I know it's not a huge part of my game, but I am playing my best when I'm able to move around a little bit, move the pocket here and there, and then some of the other things just kind of happen naturally. But I do think it's important for the whole offense when you have that, the ability to do a couple of those things throughout the course of the game.” Flacco made multiple impressive throws in the fourth quarter to bounce back from three interceptions but the 51-yard touchdown to Amari Cooper has been played on a loop by Browns fans and media alike the last few days. “It is funny how that throw ends up working out and it just happens to be by the ending picture you see three guys there,” Flacco said. “I mean it was a little bit more simple than that I think because the safety, you can kind of take him off the field. It was kind of like that perfect storm coming together for us because it was so close and it was thrown right at the safety from his vantage point. It was able to freeze those guys just enough for him to score because typically that wouldn’t happen. If that play was hit probably a couple yards over to the left, if he caught it a couple of yards before that, then he probably either runs out of bounds or the guys make a tackle. But because it was that close, it froze them just enough to kind of happen perfectly for us. It was just one of those random ones. You make tight throws all the time, that one just kind of looked that way I think at the end.”
Clinch watch – The NFL announced a total of eight different playoff clinch scenarios for the Brown this weekend on Tuesday but the focus of going 1-0 each week remains unchanged. “It'll always be a one game season for us,” Stefanski said. “That doesn't change. Now, obviously you know that you can earn more. I think everybody understands that. But in terms of how you do that, you really have to focus on this week.” Every scenario starts with the Browns have to beat the Texans, who in turn at 8-6 need to beat the Browns to keep their AFC south or wild card hopes alive. “We're fighting for our lives, our playoff lives, for real,” linebacker Anthony Walker said. “We want to get in, we want to put ourselves in the best position. They want to do the same thing as well. They're tied for their division lead. Anytime you put yourself in that position, you've played good football and you want to keep playing good football. At this point of the season, it's a one-game playoff season.” While Stefanski and a few players admitted they’ll be paying attention to scores around the league, their focus is on the Texans and handling their own business. “I think there’s some confidence that that is going to be the direction, but it really just takes us being in the moment and coming in here and doing our work and all those things and then actually going out on game day and coming through,” Flacco said. “So, I think what we’ve done so far, I think can give us the confidence to feel that’s the way it should go. But it’s still up to us to kind of stay in the moment, look at what’s important now and go do the job.”
Familiar foe – Texans rookie C.J. Stroud remains in concussion protocol and former Brown Case Keenum is expected to start Sunday. “Everywhere Case has been, he’s done a great job of coming in and winning games for football teams,” Flacco said. “So it’s going to be a challenge either way.” Keenum went 2-0 in 2021 under Stefanski and he was an overtime winner this past weekend in place of Stroud. “You have to prepare for all their guys, and the truth is all their guys can beat you,” Stefanski said. “They've all won. I think C.J. Stroud's having as good a year as there is. That position for rookies, doesn't not look like a rookie. The way he plays, the decision making, the physical talent is off the charts and then Case comes in last week, starts and wins. That's what he does. He's played a lot of football games in his career, started a lot of football games in his career, has won. So we know the type of talent that he has as well.” Keenum completed 17 of 26 passes for 199 years with an interceptions in the win over the Titans. The Texans offense isn’t as vertical as it under Stroud with Keenum but the Browns defense is on alert. “Case is an unbelievable talent,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “He gets tagged as a backup quarterback, but I feel like he could start for a lot of franchises as well. Just how smart and reliable he is as a quarterback as well.”
Santa Greg – Newsome walked around the locker room Wednesday in a Santa outfit for a multimedia bit he does for the team. “I got a lot of teammates on the naughty list,” Newsome said. “I got some on the nice list. So definitely a busy week.” Newsome joked about those who may be dreaming of a white Christmas. “I checked the forecast, it's not going to be snow,” Newsome said. “Yeah, I kind of did that just because I feel like the guys have been doing a great job on the field, so I was like, no snow for Christmas this year.” Most importantly, atop Newsome’s gift list is a playoff berth. “That's the goal,” Newsome said. “Yeah, A couple of my teammates asked for Christmas to go one 1-0 this week. So that's the goal.”
Take it easy – With a weekly injury report that has listed 14-18 players the past few weeks combined with a quick turnaround next week to play the Jets on Thursday night football, Stefanski scrapped practice Wednesday for an extended walk through. “[It’s] late in the season. We had an early bye,” Stefanski said. “We have a Thursday night game next week, so just trying to account for all those things.” The Wednesday injury report, which is an estimate of participation, featured 16 players.
Close shave – The most significant development to come out of Wednesday’s open locker room was Flacco shaved. “It was a mess,” Flacco said of the beard that is now gone. The veteran doesn’t believe he is tempting fate with the change. “I don’t know if three picks is [going] well, but the ending results are definitely nice,” Flacco said.
Holding out hope – The Browns have yet to place defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo in injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle suffered in the win over the Jaguars December 10. “I'd say still working through all of it,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, we haven't put him on IR just yet, so those are things that we're working through.”
Leaders of the pack – Garrett and kicker Dustin Hopkins continue to lead fan voting for AFC players at their positions for the Pro Bowl games according to the latest returns announced by the NFL. Fan voting concludes December 25.
Injury report – DNP: LG Joel Bitonio (back, knee), LB Jordan Kunaszyk (calf), DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral), S Juan Thornhill (calf), DE Myles Garrett (rest, shoulder), WR Amari Cooper (rest), TE David Njoku (rest, knee), RG Wyatt Teller (rest, ankle); LIMITED: QB Joe Flacco (calf), OT Geron Christian (shoulder), RB Jerome Ford (wrist), RB Kareem Hunt (groin), C Ethan Pocic (stinger), LB Anthony Walker (knee); FULL: C Nick Harris (knee), CB Denzel Ward (shoulder)
**Because the Browns didn’t practice Wednesday their injury report is an estimation of participation
