JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Coach Romeo Crennel spent the week in the eye of the storm.
Arguably his best player, tight end Kellen Winslow, was suspended for today’s game against the Jaguars. His boss, general manager Phil Savage, uncorked an emotional rant on the radio but left Crennel to answer the many sensitive questions involving the suspension.
Undeterred, Crennel spent the week trying to convince his players there wasn’t a storm. Despite nonstop headlines regarding Winslow and Savage, Crennel did his best to return the attention to where it belongs — the field.
“That is where I need those guys in the locker room to have their focus and concentration,” he said. “That’s where my focus and concentration needs to be as well.”
Crennel can say all he wants about directing his team’s focus, but the he said-he said circus involving Winslow and Savage was surely a distraction. Ninety percent of the questions asked by reporters in the locker room involved Winslow, the game plan had to be adjusted for his absence and league investigators were at team headquarters conducting interviews for Winslow’s appeal, which has been canceled.
“We’re going to miss K2,” linebacker Andra Davis said Friday. “I wish he was out here with us, but he himself would want us to focus on the Jaguars. He’s no selfish guy, like a lot of people try to portray him.
“We love that dude, but we have to focus on what we need to take care of.”
The Winslow incident couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Browns are 2-4 and again on the brink of a lost season. They’ve had confrontations between players in two of the past three games. Their top receiver, Braylon Edwards, has 10 drops, but criticized the play caller. Their quarterback, Derek Anderson, is inaccurate and fighting to hang onto his job.
But those inside the locker room insist the focus has been squarely on the Jaguars (3-3).
“We haven’t really had any spare room for distractions because the caliber of team we’re playing, the fact that we’re playing on the road and the situation with our record, trying to stay in the hunt,” running back Jason Wright said. “We’ve handled it well. We couldn’t really afford distractions, so it hasn’t been there.”
Whether the Winslow drama will be felt today won’t be known completely until 7 o’clock. But the players practiced with energy, said all the right things concerning Winslow and staph infections and seemed more relaxed as the week progressed.
“The stance we took as players is let’s focus on Jacksonville and let’s focus on saving this season and trying to get to the playoffs as opposed to any other business,” Edwards said.
The Browns can take a measure of comfort from their last game without the immensely talented Winslow. They scored a season-high 35 points against the Giants on Oct. 13, and tight ends Steve Heiden (five catches, 59 yards) and Darnell Dinkins (22-yard touchdown) filled in admirably.
“When we didn’t have him last time nobody blinked, nobody stressed out about anything,” Anderson said. “Steve’s a (darn) good tight end and he can step in.
“Guys understand, yeah, he’s not here. We go play and go win a game. It’s not anything you think about or talk about or have to overanalyze. It’s plain and simple.”
The math is elementary, as well. If the Browns don’t start winning, they can forget about playing meaningful games in December.
“It’s a really big game as you look at the scope of things and how the season is playing out in the AFC,” Crennel said. “For us to win this game will be huge.”
The Browns trail Pittsburgh by three games in the AFC North, but the situation isn’t as bleak across the rest of the conference, where the Browns are just a game out of the second wild-card spot.
“You try to get in the mix and that .500 mark is the key, because then after that you go on a little run and you’re in the playoffs,” Heiden said.
The Jaguars are a seven-point favorite, which is odd because they’re the only team that hasn’t played a game decided by more than seven points.
The Jaguars have only eight sacks, have allowed a 48.6 percent conversion rate on third down and 11 touchdown catches. They are 31st in red zone defense (72.2 touchdown percentage) and opposing quarterbacks have a 91.8 rating.
“We’re mature enough to handle what we need to handle, which is the Jaguars,” Davis said. “We can’t afford a slipup. At 2-5, I wouldn’t say the season’s over, but you’d have to be perfect.”

Winslow, Browns make up, but tight end still won’t play today

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns have agreed to rescind Kellen Winslow’s one-game suspension, but the Pro Bowl tight end will still miss Cleveland’s game today.
The team said in a statement Saturday night that Winslow will return on Monday, following the Browns’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The franchise said it has worked through its differences with Winslow and looks forward to his return.
Winslow was suspended last week after he made critical comments about the Browns’ handling of his hospitalization with a staph infection. He later appealed the suspension.  

TODAY’S GAME

WHO: Cleveland at Jacksonville
TIME: 4:05 p.m.
WHERE: Jacksonville (Fla.) Municipal Stadium
RECORDS: Browns 2-4; Jaguars 3-3
LAST WEEK: Browns lost 14-11 at Redskins; Jaguars had bye, beat Broncos 24-17 at Denver on Oct. 12.
SERIES: Jaguars lead 8-2
SERIES AT JACKSONVILLE: Jaguars lead 3-2
LAST MEETING: Jaguars won 20-14 on Dec. 4, 2005, in Cleveland
COACHES: Romeo Crennel is 22-32 with Browns and overall; Jack Del Rio is 37-33 with Jaguars and overall
TV/RADIO: Channel 19, with broadcasters Dick Enberg and Randy Cross; WMMS 100.7-FM, WTAM 1100-AM
NFL RANKINGS (OUT OF 32 TEAMS): Browns — offense 30th (24th rushing, 28th passing), defense 18th (26th rushing, 7th passing); Jaguars — offense 22nd (14th rushing, 20th passing), defense 24th (17th rushing, 23rd passing)
BROWNS UPDATE: S Sean Jones recorded a career-high 16 tackles last week in his return from knee surgery.
• The Browns committed four penalties for 25 yards against the Redskins after averaging more than nine through the first five games.
• RB Jamal Lewis has yet to rush for 100 yards in a game this season.
• The offense ranks 30th on first down, averaging 4.28 yards. The defense ranks 28th on first down, allowing 6.07 yards.
• The players will wear a “GH” sticker on their helmets to honor Hall of Fame guard Gene Hickerson, who died Monday at the age of 73.
JAGUARS UPDATE: Del Rio’s teams are 2-3 following the bye week.
• The Jaguars and Browns were AFC Central foes in 1995 and from 1999-2001.
• RB Maurice Jones-Drew leads the team with 301 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns. He’s second on the team with 21 catches for 184 yards.
• LB Mike Peterson leads the team with 59 tackles.
BROWNS INJURY REPORT: Out: DL Shaun Smith (hand), TE Kellen Winslow (didn’t practice this week), T Ryan Tucker (knee), S Mike Adams (hamstring), LB Shantee Orr (foot); Questionable: DE Corey Williams (shoulder); Probable: TE Steve Heiden (pectoral).
JAGUARS INJURY REPORT: Out: WR Mike Walker (knee); Probable: DT John Henderson (hamstring), DT Rob Meier (knee), G Tutan Reyes (knee).
THE PICK: Whether it’s the Winslow distraction, the underachieving offense or the porous run defense, the Browns have too much to overcome. Jaguars 27-24.

MARQUEE MATCHUP

Browns WR Braylon Edwards vs. Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis

So much for being out of his funk.
Braylon Edwards’ season-long slump appeared to be over when he posted a career-high 154 receiving yards against the Giants, but it returned with a vengeance last week in a loss to the Redskins. Edwards dropped four balls and ran the wrong route on a crucial fourth-quarter incompletion. Edwards’ struggles would be less troubling if the offense didn’t follow his lead.
In his best game — the win over New York — the Browns played their best game, putting up season highs in points and yardage. In the other five games, in which he has no more than four catches and 58 yards, the Browns have failed to eclipse 20 points and 261 yards of offense.
“I believe I’m one of the playmakers this team goes to,” he said. “I have to be here for this team.”
Edwards, who criticized the play calling of Rob Chudzinski on Thursday, will have a hard time finding his Pro Bowl form today. Rashean Mathis is an All-Pro cornerback who, at 6-foot-1, can nearly match Edwards’ 6-3 frame. Mathis is Jacksonville’s all-time interception leader with 23 and has returned both his picks for touchdowns this season.
“He’s physical at the line of scrimmage, he has good instincts, he jumps a lot of routes,” Edwards said. “He scores at least two touchdowns a season because he jumps a lot of routes. I’ve studied a lot of film and it’s going to be a battle.”

— Scott Petrak

 

NICKEL COVERAGE: Five points of interest in today’s game

EARLY OFFENSE

A unit should be strong enough to survive a shaky start, but the offense isn’t. When the Browns struggle to move the ball in the early going — they’ve only scored six points in the first quarter all year — the offense remains stuck in neutral for the duration. The only wins came in the games in which the Browns kicked first-quarter field goals.
“When we come out and play aggressive and play physical and we play fast, we usually come out and play a pretty good game,” receiver Donte Stallworth said.

NOW OR NEVER

Quarterback Derek Anderson is running out of time to keep his starting job and ensure a future with the Browns. With every loss, and each poor performance, Anderson looks more like a one-year wonder — and Brady Quinn gets more appealing.
Anderson is last in the league with a 41.1 rating on third down and has completed less than 50 percent of his passes in three of six games. If the losses continue to mount, the switch to Quinn is inevitable.

HANDLE WITH CARE

The secondary gets another tough challenge in its quest for interceptions. The Redskins are in a record streak without throwing a pick, and Jaguars quarterback David Garrard is nearly as stingy. He threw just three interceptions in 325 attempts last year for the second-lowest interception percentage in history.
Garrard threw four picks in the first three games this year, but has gone three straight without one. The Browns have nine interceptions, led by Eric Wright’s three.

SPECIAL EFFORT

In 2007 the Browns dominated the special teams battle nearly every week. It’s no longer 2007. Pro Bowl returner Joshua Cribbs has been held in check, and the kickoff coverage unit is in the middle of the pack. Cribbs could have a hard time getting untracked this week, as Jacksonville leads the NFL in kickoff coverage.
The Jaguars also provide a test for Cleveland’s coverage units, with rookie free agent Brian Witherspoon third in kickoff return average (28.6 yards) and seventh in punt return average (12.0).

COSTLY NICKEL

With injuries to Brodney Pool, Sean Jones and Mike Adams, the Browns have yet to have their ideal nickel package on defense. Instead, they’ve had Terry Cousin — and that’s a problem.
Cousin is smart and experienced, but opponents been going after him nearly every time he’s on the field. They’ve come away with first downs and touchdowns.
The Jaguars, who let him leave in free agency, will surely follow suit.
— Scott Petrak

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---