The Browns opened the eyes of Hue Jackson in their preseason opener.
The coach admitted Saturday his team’s 17-11 exhibition loss the previous night to the Green Bay Packers served as an eye-opener in terms of how much work must be done before the regular season begins Sept. 11.
“Not in the sense where I think that everything’s got to change, but in the sense that the urgency of making sure there’s things that we need to correct,” Jackson said during a conference call. “I anticipated a little bit some of it, but you never know until you play the game exactly what all the things could be.
“There was a lot of good things. But there are some things within playing a game that we do need to do better, and that’s what we’re going back to work on starting tomorrow.”
The Browns went 3-13 last season. They have a new coaching staff. Their roster is being rebuilt. Outsiders’ expectations for the team in 2016 are low, and for good reason.
So it should come as no surprise that Jackson has many issues he’s tasked with addressing.
The quarterback
Starter Robert Griffin III had an uneven debut with the Browns. He completed 4-of-8 passes for 67 yards with an interception and a rating of 39.1 in two series, one against a makeshift starting unit (the Packers’ top four linebackers didn’t play) and another against backups. He was benched by Washington and didn’t play in the 2015 regular season, so Friday’s game was his first action against an opponent since last summer.
“There were some things that he did good,” Jackson said. “Obviously, we can’t have a fumbled snap the second play of the game and you never want to see the [interception]. But I thought he stood in the pocket and looked real relaxed, kept his poise and tried to make some throws downfield. Obviously, the first play [a 49-yard completion to wide receiver Terrelle Pryor] was a great way to start, and that’s something to build on. For a guy that hadn’t played in a while, I thought there were some positives there.”
But Packers safety Micah Hyde intercepted a pass from Griffin at the goal line to end the offense’s opening drive. Jackson thought Griffin tried to lead tight end Gary Barnidge too much when he threw over the middle.
“I need to do a better job of coaching both of those guys,” Jackson said. “I think Robert’s obviously an extension of me, and he’ll be the first to tell you’ve got to take that ball and not throw it down the middle of the field in that situation. I think until you really know guys, can you lead people into places you want to lead them to, and I think that was a little too soon to try that.
“One of our goals is to make sure we’re always taking care of the ball. So he has to sometimes, as we always say, just got to say uncle, throw it away or throw it somewhere else and give us another chance to call another play.”
Pass protection
The concerns on the offensive line at center and right tackle were not alleviated. Griffin absorbed hits when center Cameron Erving failed to hold a block, when right tackle Austin Pasztor did the same and when the line and/or running back Isaiah Crowell blew protection on a screen.
“The protection wasn’t as good as I like it to be,” Jackson said. “There’s some things that we need to clean up and shore up a little bit. It could be better. But I also think the rhythm and timing of getting the ball out can be better, too.”
Jackson defended Erving, a first-round draft pick who struggled last year as a rookie.
“There was one opportunity there where he had a chance to make a block where a guy kind of slipped around him while he was trying to get his hands placed under the guy’s chest,” Jackson said. “But other than that, I thought Cam did some really good things.”
Jackson said Pasztor “battled hard” and revealed he’ll keep him in the starting lineup for now. Alvin Bailey and rookie Spencer Drango have also practiced in that spot during training camp. But Jackson thinks the offensive line needs continuity. In addition to the revolving door at right tackle, right guard John Greco and Erving missed part of camp with injuries.
“We need to get those five guys playing together,” Jackson said. “I thought [left guard] Joel Bitonio and [left tackle] Joe Thomas did an outstanding job, but it’s a unit. It’s a whole unit, and obviously when pieces of it doesn’t play as good, the other pieces suffer.”
Running game
The running game is vital to the balanced attack Jackson hopes to use, yet it’s been lackluster so far. Crowell, the starting running back, had one carry for a 2-yard loss. On the other hand, his primary backup, Duke Johnson, gained 11 yards on his only carry.
“It was OK,” Jackson said. “I have a high expectation for our running game. We had a couple opportunities to make some things happen that we kind of didn’t get done.
“The [27-yard] run Raheem [Mostert] broke out [in the second quarter], we had an opportunity for that same run a little earlier in the game and we just kind of didn’t get on the proper people. We’ll just continue to work at it, and we’ll get this solved. I promise you that.”
Defense, special teams
The offense was the source of the most glaring concerns partly because the starting defense played just one series.
It surrendered two first downs to Packers third-string quarterback Joe Callahan, an undrafted rookie, but it didn’t allow a score. Rookie linebacker Joe Schobert gave up another first down when he ran into the punter during the opening possession, and Mostert muffed a punt later in the first quarter.
“We need to get some stops and three-and-outs and be better on third down,” Jackson said. “And on special teams, we want to make sure that we don’t have turnovers or cause the offense or defense to be put in a bad situation.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.