CLEVELAND: Browns coach Hue Jackson played his starters in Thursday night’s preseason finale because he thought they needed more work.
Boy, did they prove him right.
The backups aren’t impressive either, as evidenced by the team completing the preseason with a record of 0-4. The New Orleans Saints were the only other NFL team to finish this preseason winless.
So Jackson gathered the team’s top leaders, nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas and two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden, on the sideline late in the Browns’ 21-7 loss to the Chicago Bears in the preseason finale and delivered a message. The Sept. 11 regular-season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles is on the horizon and the Browns look like a team plagued by many of the same issues they had last season when they went 3-13, so they could use a jolt among other things.
“It’s time. It’s the real guys. The grind starts now. What it’s truly all about starts next Sunday in Philadelphia,” Jackson said. “I wanted them to understand it is going to take work, it is going to take their leadership and their ability to rally their teammates to do what we need to do, which is we are going to Philadelphia and we expect to win a game.”
In Jackson’s only previous stop as an NFL head coach, the Oakland Raiders finished the preseason 0-4 in 2011. Then they went 8-8 in the regular season.
“I know it can be done. I think you guys all understand when you are playing so many different guys, you don’t get some kind of rhythm with each other,” Jackson said. “I feel good about where we are. I wish it would have been better. I don’t like being 0-4.”
The first-string offense scored a touchdown in front of a sparse crowd at FirstEnergy Stadium, but it happened in one of the least inspiring ways imaginable.
First of all, the Bears rested all of their defensive starters.
Yet quarterback Robert Griffin III and the Browns’ No. 1 offense went three-and-out on their first possession. On third-and-4 at the Browns’ 16-yard line, Griffin fired high and incomplete to rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman, who leaped but couldn’t make the catch.
On their next possession, Griffin and Co. stalled again. On third-and-6 at the Bears’ 41, Griffin was pressured by outside linebacker Sam Acho, who rushed past right tackle Austin Pasztor. Griffin threw incomplete a split-second before Acho pushed him down.
But the Browns caught a break on the ensuing punt that allowed their first-team offense to save face. Kasey Redfern, vying for the punting job with Michael Palardy after the Browns traded three-time Pro Bowler Andy Lee on Monday, booted the ball 35 yards to Chicago’s 12, where it deflected off the foot of Bears wide receiver B.J. Daniels. Browns inside linebacker Tank Carder recovered at the Bears’ 18.
Given a third chance, the Browns’ top offense finally scored against backups.
“I was going to take them out and just left them out there,” Jackson said. “I thought it was good for them to finish the drive with a touchdown, which was good.”
On third-and-7 at the 15, Griffin connected with running back Isaiah Crowell in the left flat for a 12-yard gain. Then, on third-and-goal, Crowell rushed off left guard for a 4-yard touchdown, giving the Browns a 7-3 lead with 22 seconds left in the first quarter. The Browns gave Thomas the night off after Carder’s recovery, using Dan France while Crowell scored.
“We made a couple mistakes and we had some good things and some bad things go on,” said Crowell, who rushed six times for just 11 yards (1.8 average). “I feel like we’ve got to get back in practice and work on everything. I feel like we can get it together.
“I feel like the confidence level is high, just from the players and the coaches. We feel like they believe in us and we believe in them and we’re ready to go get it done.”
Added Jackson: “The regular season is here. We don’t blink. Obviously, we would have liked to finish a little bit better, but the thing that was fun was watching the first group go out there and get some work.”
Asked if his team will be ready for Week 1, Jackson said, “They better be. We are going to be. We will get ready. I’m not worried about next week. I’m worried about us getting through the weekend, practicing and getting ready for Philadelphia.”
A significant portion of Jackson’s confidence stems from the fact that he hasn’t been game planning much in the preseason.
“A lot of this for us has been about evaluation of our team. Now that changes. The focus of everything changes,” Jackson said. “Now it is about finding a way to win by any means necessary, and I think our players understand that.”
Griffin completed 4-of-8 passes for 31 yards in the starting offense’s three series, including the one created by the muffed punt. He finished with a passer rating of 59.9 and was not sacked.
“I think we are all confident because we know what we have done,” Griffin said. “Even in the preseason, we have been a big-play offense. We have hit those. We just have to be more consistent and sustain drives. It was good for us to capitalize on our special teams unit getting us a turnover there and getting a touchdown to finish off the preseason for us as the ones. I think all the guys know when the real bullets are flying in the regular season and that is when it counts. We have taken this approach in the preseason to try and work out some of the kinks and do some different things. Now, we will be able to focus on all we do best.
“Coach has echoed that to us. Now the ones are going to play, and we are not going to stop. That is just the bottom line. If a switch did need to be flipped, I think the guys understand that now, especially after our break in the huddle with what Coach told us. It is real. It is about wins and losses, and we are here to win. He is here to win, and we have to go out there and make Coach look good.”
Griffin finished the preseason 22-of-38 passing (57.9 percent) with three touchdowns and an interception. His passer rating was 100. He ran five times for 40 yards and took six sacks.
“He has played good. He hasn’t turned the ball over,” Jackson said. “That is one of the keys to playing the position. Obviously, we have to continue to work through practice and get ready. Now it is about game plan and getting ready to defeat the teams you play. Now we will get into the things we do and the things we do well, and we will put our guys out there and give them a chance to have success.”
Still, several Browns players found a silver lining in their performance coming off their 30-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Friday’s third exhibition game.
“It was good to get back out there and get the bad taste out of our mouths from last week because we didn’t play the way we wanted to,” Pro Bowl tight end Gary Barnidge said. “We got out there and showed what we could do, and I’m looking forward to the regular season.”
The Browns used their starters on defense for just one series, and they employed the nickel package. It featured rookie Carl Nassib and Armonty Bryant at end, rookie Emmanuel Ogbah and Xavier Cooper at tackle, Joe Haden and Jamar Taylor at outside cornerback and Tramon Williams at slot corner.
The Bears, meanwhile, used just one starter on offense — wide receiver Kevin White. During the game’s opening series, the Bears faced third-and-5 at their 36 when Ogbah sacked former Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer for a 6-yard loss.
The Browns used mostly backups on defense during the Bears’ second possession, which ended with Robbie Gould making a 30-yard field goal. In an notable twist, Ogbah and rookie Joe Schobert were the first outside linebackers to play in the base 3-4 alignment. Nate Orchard, who started 11 games as a rookie last season, toiled with the second- and third-string defenders and played into the fourth quarter.
“We just wanted to see him in that situation through some other plays,” Jackson said. “There were some things we called specifically just to take a good look at him rushing and doing some other things. We just gave him an opportunity to stay out there.”
Tramon Williams stressed the defense must progress before it faces the Eagles.
“It’s got to be different in 10 days,” he said. “I think we’ve been doing a lot of good things throughout the preseason. Not consistent enough, but we do have hope that we can get it to be consistent. The only thing we’ve got to do is keep working. It’s never as perfect as you want it to be, but if you put in the time and the effort, you can get it there. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
Rookie defensive end Carl Nassib was more upbeat.
“We’re ready to rock and roll,” said Nassib, who pressured Hoyer while Ogbah sacked him. “We’re excited for Philadelphia and we’re excited to get some wins.
“I don’t think anybody’s discouraged. I think everybody’s really excited. I think everybody’s really amped up to get it going.”
All NFL teams must trim their rosters from 75 to 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday. Receiver Taylor Gabriel continued his push to make the team, and Gabriel may have strengthened his case with a 37-yard punt return in the third quarter. On the other hand, he caught one pass for a 1-yard loss on five targets. Andrew Hawkins, perhaps Gabriel’s main competition, was not targeted.
The Browns escaped the preseason finale without any major injuries to starters. Fullback Malcolm Johnson suffered a biceps injury, but Jackson said he thought Johnson would be fine. However, fifth-string running back Rajion Neal (knee) was carted off the field with 7:36 left in the fourth quarter.
The biggest takeaway from the second half is how much rookie third-string quarterback Cody Kessler needs to develop. The third-round pick finished 10-of-17 passing for 40 yards, took three sacks and posted a passer rating of 63.6.
“Cody, obviously, he is learning under fire,” Jackson said. “There are some balls I’m sure he would like to have back, but I thought he tried to stand in there and make some plays. He is learning in the National Football League. He has to improve.”