BEREA — General manager Phil Savage spent Monday huddled with his staff inside Browns headquarters trying to find solutions to the team’s plethora of problems.
“Obviously, we are struggling right now,” he said in an e-mail. “Our players are willing to work and want to win.
“As a staff, we have discussed a number of issues today in trying to come up with a way to get this team going again.”
Savage hasn’t given up on the season despite the 0-3 start. He remains hopeful it can be turned around, even though only two teams since 1993 have made the playoffs after going 0-3.
“We put ourselves in this situation and it’s our job to get us out of it,” he said. “We have a long way to go now, but I still believe this team is good enough to win this year.
“Too many good players and too many good coaches to not come out of it at some point.”
Coach Romeo Crennel had a clear message for his team and the media Monday.
“I think everybody understands now that last year is officially over and where we are is where we are,” he said. “We have to evaluate this year’s team for who we are, how we’re playing right now and what’s happened this year and not look at what happened last year or anticipate that it’s going to be OK, because it’s not OK.”

Thick skin

Crennel downplayed running back Jamal Lewis’ postgame comment that him getting 12 carries was “pathetic.”
“Jamal played in Baltimore before he got here and so he wanted to go down there and show that he was still the running back that they got rid of,” Crennel said. “He wanted the ball more and I understand his frustration at not being able to have the ball more.”
Lewis rushed nine times for 40 yards in the first half, then three times for 16 in the second half.
“We had a good mix in the first half of runs and passes and we got away from that in the second half, and I think the score of the game had more to do with it than anything else,” Crennel said.

Bench Braylon?

Receiver Braylon Edwards has been penalized three times this season, including a block in the back that negated a first-down run by Lewis on Sunday. Crennel was asked what can be done.
“We coach Braylon up, we talk to him, we counsel him, we point out to him the correct way to block, the correct angle to take and that you’re not supposed to block in the back,” Crennel said. “We try to emphasize that penalties hurt your team and they cause you to lose. Evidently we don’t talk about it enough.
“You can get to the point where you can put the guy on the bench if he continually does that.”

Injury report

Crennel said it was a coach’s decision to deactivate offensive lineman Ryan Tucker on Sunday and go with an extra defensive lineman on the 45-man game-day roster. Tucker practiced last week and was listed as probable after breaking a hip in the offseason.
• Left guard Eric Steinbach (shoulder) didn’t make the trip to Baltimore, but Crennel said no surgery is scheduled. “No, not at this moment,” he said. “He’s recovering. He’s working and we have not ruled him out for this week. If his strength is OK, then he’ll play.”
• Linebacker Shantee Orr suffered a mild concussion Sunday, but Crennel said he should be OK for the Bengals game Sunday.
• Quarterback Derek Anderson has a bruise on his forearm and had it wrapped after the game.

A little help

The Browns brought in some players for a tryout Monday, but veteran receiver Joe Horn wasn’t one of them.
“I don’t know that they are the answer,” Crennel said. “Because if they are the answer, they wouldn’t be on the street.”
Contact Scott Petrak at 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. 

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