Eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said Monday the Browns must be ready to take a step backward if owner Jimmy Haslam blows up the organization after this season.
Thomas ought to know. He has become an expert on the effects of coaching and front-office changes.
A lack of continuity has crippled the Browns throughout the nine-year career of Thomas, the team’s longest-tenured player. He has played under two owners, five general managers, five head coaches and seven offensive coordinators since being drafted third overall in 2007. He has also blocked for 16 of the 24 quarterbacks who have started for the team since 1999.
With the Browns (3-11) tied for the NFL’s worst record, no one should be surprised if Haslam were to fire coach Mike Pettine and General Manager Ray Farmer when the season ends Jan. 3.
“I guess I don’t want to really think about it or talk about it much, but I will say that any time you make a change in an organization on the coaching staff or you make a change in the organization, there is a one step back that you have to take and that’s just a part of making a change,” Thomas said Monday during a conference call. “You’re going to get a lot of new players, you’re going to get, obviously, new coaches, new people in the building.
“And it does take time to teach people the new philosophy, the new procedures, the new schemes, and certainly this NFL game is something that takes more than one or two years to be really good in a scheme. There’s a level of proficiency that you can get in a year to be OK, but it really takes a few years in a scheme before you can get really good at something.”
The Browns haven’t had a winning record since they went 10-6 during Thomas’ rookie season in 2007. The lack of continuity has played a part.
Tight end Gary Barnidge is among the players who want Haslam to retain the coaching staff.
“We’ve shown what we can do on offense,” Barnidge said Monday. “We know what we can do. We’ve shown we can put up points against people. We can put up numbers. We just have to get rid of the miscues we have, and I think everything will be all right.”
After the Browns fell 30-13 to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, quarterback Johnny Manziel expressed desire for continuity while discussing the success of the Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson.
“They’ve been doing this for a while at a really high level,” Manziel said. “I think this is the best that [Wilson has] played probably throughout his career, so I don’t know if I can really picture that [same type of continuity] moving forward. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think anybody really knows.
“I want these guys to be here next year. I want to have these receivers and the people that we have on this roster on the staff, so we can go through the spring and not have to learn what this call is and this play and be able to go through a spring and have some of the continuity. So it definitely would be a luxury for sure.”
On Dec. 11, strong safety Donte Whitner lobbied for the coaching staff to be kept. He blamed the defense’s woes on the players, not coordinator Jim O’Neil.
“I have total faith in this coaching staff,” Whitner said. “Every time we’ve taken the football field, we’ve been prepared. ... We’ve known what the opposition was going to do to us. We’ve known where they want to go with the football.
“Sometimes it’s just like we have mental lapses out there. I really do like this coaching staff. I think they are really, really a hard-working coaching staff. They’re young, but they’re hungry to win. I think just players, we’ve let them down a little this year.”
Thomas said Haslam has not asked him for input regarding the coaching staff, but the All-Pro player would be happy to share his opinion.
O-line shake-up
Starting right guard John Greco will sit out the final two games of the season after suffering an injured medial collateral ligament on the second play Sunday, Pettine said, adding Greco won’t need surgery on his injured knee.
“Obviously, whenever you lose your starter and you lose a guy as good as John, it is going to hurt you,” Thomas said.
Rookie Cameron Erving filled in for Greco and will “more than likely” start in his absence, Pettine said. The 19th overall draft pick, Erving struggled mightily in two starts this season at left guard while starter Joel Bitonio sat out with a high-ankle sprain. Bitonio returned from the sprain, only to suffer a season-ending ankle injury, and the Browns have started Austin Pasztor in his place the past two games instead of Erving.
On Sunday, Erving surrendered two sacks and drew a holding penalty.
“Overall, Cam did some good things [against the Seahawks],” Pettine said. “His energy and attitude is not the issue. Sometimes it’s a physical thing, and that’s why it’s encouraging to get him out there and play and hopefully we can get his confidence back up.”
Thomas said Erving needs to work on his footwork and technique in the offseason because improvement in those areas should improve his functional strength and prevent opponents from routinely overpowering him.
“Your strength and power comes from where your feet are,” Thomas said. “I am probably one of the weakest offensive linemen in the NFL, but it doesn’t matter if you have good feet and you are constantly in good position. You are using leverages. You are using angles. You are winning the science of your position. The young players, it is something that takes time to learn. It really isn’t about weight-room strength. It is more about the positions you get your body in to be strong.”
Thomas added Erving “is willing and eager to learn.”
Not disappointed
Wide receiver-in-training Terrelle Pryor received most of his playing time early and finished Sunday with 15-of-55 snaps (27 percent). Pettine said Pryor’s snaps dwindled because of “how the game played out,” not because of performance.
Pryor has appeared in two games this year and has yet to catch a pass. He dropped one Sunday.
“Well, actually looking at it, it looked like it got tipped,” Pettine said. “Johnny threw a fastball, but I think the ball changed. It was subtle. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like the D-tackle might have gotten a piece of it.”
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.