BEREA: The Browns are sticking to their story about running back Duke Johnson recovering his own fumble Sunday in the fourth quarter of a 31-20 loss to Washington, and the NFL is standing by the officiating crew’s call.
With the Browns trailing 24-20 and facing second-and-2 at the 50-yard line, Johnson rushed 5 yards and fumbled. Johnson then rose from a pile of bodies with the ball in his hand. As Johnson held the ball in the air, line judge Sarah Thomas looked into the pile and signaled that inside linebacker Will Compton recovered the ball at Washington’s 43-yard line with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter.
Browns nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said he was in the pile because he had been fooled just like the line judge.
“Will Compton was acting like he had the ball, and then [Washington cornerback] Josh Norman jumps on top of him to like cradle him so like nobody else could get on top of him,” Thomas said Wednesday. “I never saw the football. I just saw a guy that was acting like he had the football, which is exactly what the official saw — somebody acting like they had the football. So she gave the ball to the person that was acting like they had the football.
“The ref saw the posture of two Redskins cradling nothing on the ground and me trying to go after that nothing that she just assumed that the Redskins must have the ball, even though Duke had the ball in his hands, and I think if she would’ve just looked over and saw Duke with the ball, it would’ve been a different story. But at that point, when you’re an official, you’ve just got to go with whatever you’re going with and just lie till you die.”
Johnson said “nobody ever touched the ball but me.”
Johnson added he’s frustrated with himself for fumbling and frustrated about the call.
“I’m mad for that. I’m mad that I got it and still didn’t get it,” he said. “I learned from it, and I’m moving on.”
The play was reviewed during the game by replay official Al Hynes, but the call on the field stood without sufficient video evidence to overturn it.
Dean Blandino, NFL senior vice president of officiating, explained the call and the replay review Tuesday on NFL Network.
“What we’re going to rule is that Washington recovered it and that the Cleveland player pulled it away from Washington,” Blandino said. “So obviously Johnson comes out of the pile with the football. The line judge comes in. We’ve already ruled possession. We’re not digging at that point [to see who has the ball]. What we’re doing is signaling to the players that possession has been established so they don’t continue to fight, and we do that for player safety.
“There’s never an angle that shows Johnson recovering the football on the ground, and the player coming out of the pile with it is not sufficient evidence because as we all know the ball can change hands in the pile. That’s why the replay official reviewed it, the call on the field stood and the official on the field ruled that Washington did recover it first.
“It’s a bad visual when you have the player holding the football and the official signaling. But the line judge had already ruled possession prior to that, and we don’t have [video] evidence as to whether Washington recovered it or Cleveland recovered it, so we have to go with what the official called on the field.”
Would Johnson have helped his cause by staying on the ground with the ball because that’s where Thomas looked as she signaled?
“I’m not really sure,” Johnson replied. “I wasn’t staying on the ground because I don’t like to be at the bottom of piles, especially when the ball is out and people are scratching. People do what they have to do to get the ball, and I wasn’t willing to be on the ground and deal with all that. I’d just rather get up and show you I’ve got the ball.”
He did that, but the Browns didn’t benefit from it anyway.
“Even if they would’ve come out and said they did make the bad call, it really doesn’t matter because at the end of the day we still lost,” Johnson said.
Source of irritation
Thomas lamented the Browns letting defensive end Jabaal Sheard walk in free agency after the 2014 season.
The Browns (0-4) will reunite with Sheard on Sunday when they host the New England Patriots (3-1) Sheard, a second-round pick of the Browns in 2011, has 11 tackles and three sacks.
“That’s one of the frustrations that I’ve had over the years, and that’s the problem when you constantly are hitting the reset button is guys that are really good players like that end up falling through the cracks or going to other teams because any time a new staff comes in basically they wipe out the middle class,” Thomas said. “They keep a couple of your superstars and then they want everyone else being a rookie so that they can try to develop them.
“When you keep doing that over and over again, you really lose all your middle class on your team. So guys like Buster Skrine, Jabaal Sheard, D’Qwell Jackson, Jordan Cameron, Travis Benjamin ... disappeared, even though those were the guys that you drafted them, spent the time developing them and right when they’re hitting stride in the peaks of their career, they end up going somewhere else and having great success.”
Extra points
• John Greco will likely move from right guard to start at center Sunday. “It probably looks that way,” coach Hue Jackson said. Alvin Bailey will likely start at right guard.
• The Browns promoted undrafted rookie offensive lineman Anthony Fabiano from their practice squad to active roster and waived defensive lineman Gabe Wright. Fabiano adds depth at center.
• The Browns signed tight end E.J. Bibbs and O-lineman Mike Liedtke to their practice squad.
• Rookie D-end Carl Nassib (surgically repaired broken left hand) and cornerback Tramon Williams (sprained AC joint in shoulder) returned to practice. They were limited.
• Former Browns strong safety and Cleveland native Donte Whitner signed with Washington.
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.