BEREA — The Browns did such a poor job dealing with the elements on Saturday night, they’ll be practicing in them for the foreseeable future.
Coach Eric Mangini said Sunday that he will hold all of the team’s upcoming workouts outside, regardless of the weather, in order to better prepare his players for inclement conditions.
“You can rent out the indoor (practice) facility here for a car show because we’re not going to be in there anytime soon,” he said. “What you saw last night was one of the reasons why I believe so firmly in practicing in the elements.
“We haven’t had much bad weather throughout camp, but that’s no excuse.”
Mangini was still fuming about the five turnovers Cleveland committed in its 19-17 home loss to the St. Louis Rams. The Browns threw two interceptions and lost three fumbles in the game-long rain, while the lowly Rams had none of either.
Considering the importance that Cleveland’s coaching staff has placed on ball possession since it arrived last spring, that number may have been more important than the final score of the preseason game.
“In the last five years, one team out of 41 has won a game when it had (at least a minus-5) turnover ratio,” Mangini said. “You might as well play the Powerball at that point.”
Two of the Browns’ lost fumbles came on punt returns, while the third was a botched exchange between center Alex Mack and quarterback Jake Delhomme, who also bungled another snap that Cleveland recovered.
“Obviously, we don’t want to drop the ball in a game, but it was raining sideways,” said Mack, whose two hiking mishaps came during the Browns’ first five offensive plays. “We’ve been pretty good at snaps every day in practice, but we just had some really bad luck last night.”
Bad luck or not, Mack knows what awaits him when Cleveland returns to the practice field Tuesday. Mangini vowed to make the second-year pro work with soggy footballs, which he said was standard punishment for players at his position.
“You want it dripping wet, so you just dunk the football in water and snap it,” Mack said. “I’m not sure why it didn’t work out yesterday, especially since (St. Louis) didn’t have any problems. It’s better to be lucky than good, I guess.”
Brownie bits
Mangini was not happy with the fourth-quarter performances of quarterbacks Colt McCoy and Brett Ratliff. The duo combined to go
1-of-6 for 10 yards and an interception as St. Louis rallied for the victory.
“(Backup Seneca Wallace) is very comfortable coming in at any point of the game, which is something that Colt is really learning how to do,” Mangini said. “It’s not easy after being ‘the man’ and getting all the reps at Texas.”
l Reggie Hodges excelled in the dreary conditions, averaging 46.8 yards on four punts. It was his first game action since winning the job by default when Dave Zastudil (right knee) was placed on season-ending injured reserve.
l Wide receiver Syndric Steptoe continued to work as the backup punt returner, but didn’t help his cause by losing a fumble on his last runback. He only averaged
5.4 yards on five returns.
l Rookie cornerback Joe Haden again looked good returning kickoffs. He averaged 21.5 yards on two tries, giving him a 25.7 average through two weeks.
Injury update
Running back Montario Hardesty (right knee) was spotted with his leg heavily wrapped following the loss to the Rams, but Mangini insisted he had not suffered a setback. The rookie was injured just prior to the start of training camp.
“I would expect him — based on the plan that we had and the progress that he’s made — he’ll be practicing again in the near future and ideally playing in the opener (Sept. 12 at Tampa Bay),” the coach said.
l Tackle Tony Pashos (right shoulder) is ready to return to practice. Pashos broke his left shoulder last season with the 49ers, but joked that the majority of his NFL injuries have been “petty.”
“Things like food poisoning and this, they aren’t very big,” he said.
l Guard Shawn Lauvao (personal reasons) could rejoin the team today after making an emergency trip home to Hawaii.
Quote of the day
“Peyton Hillis is a stud, man. That guy is awesome. When was the last time a guy did an interview in a cowboy hat? I think he even had a spittoon.” — Browns tackle Tony Pashos.
Contact Brian Dulik
at brisports@hotmail.com.

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