Brendan Gulick and Anthony Moeglin talk all the latest news and rumors coming from the Browns practice facility in Berea ahead of a home match-up vs the Jaguars that has playoff implications.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Well, hi, everybody, and happy Friday afternoon.
00:11 Brendan Gulick and Anthony Meglin with you
00:13 from Brown's training facility in Berea.
00:16 This is the practice support after we
00:17 heard from Kevin Stefanski and from two players, Miles Garrett
00:21 and Elijah Moore, in a rambunctious, fun, loud locker
00:24 room today here in Berea.
00:27 Anthony, it's clear that the team is--
00:30 morale's high, life is good, everybody's
00:33 feeling good about going into the weekend.
00:37 It was, in a lot of ways, a normal Friday,
00:39 but there is one very obvious thing that
00:41 is not normal about today, and it's what we didn't
00:43 hear from Kevin Stefanski.
00:45 He did not name a starting quarterback for the weekend,
00:48 essentially because he's not obligated to,
00:50 even though he usually does, which I think
00:53 raises some eyebrows.
00:54 Did something happen that we don't know about?
00:56 Is Kevin just not ready to name a starter yet?
01:00 The speculation is going to probably take center stage
01:05 for the next 36 hours or 48 hours
01:08 now before the team kicks off in a big game with the Jaguars
01:10 on Sunday.
01:11 Yeah, or is it as simple as DTR presents
01:14 one set of challenges for the opponent,
01:17 or Joe Flacos presents another set of challenges
01:20 for the opponent, which is the Jaguars this week?
01:22 You never know.
01:23 It seemed pretty-- it was very funny.
01:24 It was such a Kevin response, too.
01:26 He just was very, like, not going to say it.
01:29 Everyone kept asking the questions, and he's like,
01:31 I don't need to say it, so I'm not going to say it.
01:34 I thought Elijah Moore was getting close to saying
01:38 that it was going to be Flaco, and then it feels like he
01:40 remembered, like, coach said, don't say anything about it,
01:43 so I'm not going to.
01:44 But no, it was--
01:46 there is going to be some speculation.
01:49 I think that-- and you mentioned this,
01:51 the part of the practice that was open to the public
01:53 and open to you was that Flaco got a lot of the first team
01:57 reps, and it had a lot of that work when it was open.
02:00 So we'll see what it boils down to.
02:03 My guess would be that it's going
02:05 to be Flaco on Sunday for a number of different reasons.
02:08 Yeah, I mean, I would think if both guys are created equal,
02:12 right, if it's truly not one guy's dealing with something
02:15 and the other guy isn't.
02:17 And obviously, DTR is the one that we
02:20 think is coming back from concussion protocol,
02:22 he's been out on the field.
02:25 Assuming that we know that its status quo and everything
02:28 is fine and there were no setbacks with anyone,
02:31 yeah, I'm inclined to say that Joe Flaco is probably
02:34 the better option.
02:36 But to your point, because their skill sets are so different,
02:39 why give Jacksonville an extra couple of days
02:41 to game plan for whomever they think the starting quarterback
02:44 may or may not be?
02:45 I'm on board with that, I get that.
02:48 I just hope that they have the decision already made
02:51 internally and not that it's truly coming down to,
02:55 what direction are we going to go here?
02:56 And I'm inclined to believe that they know
03:00 and they're not saying anything.
03:01 I think that's probably reality.
03:04 Yeah, I kind of laughed when he said,
03:06 we'll all find out on Sunday at kickoff
03:08 or whatever the exact quote was.
03:10 I'm like, I'm hopeful that you guys know.
03:12 But yeah, I guess we can speculate as much
03:14 as we want on the outside.
03:16 But we will certainly find out Sunday right around 1 o'clock.
03:21 So Jacksonville's played really, really good football lately.
03:24 And they are emerging as, believe it or not,
03:27 you wouldn't have thought this maybe
03:29 at the beginning of the year, a legitimate contender
03:32 for potentially the best record in the AFC.
03:35 They've played especially good football away from home.
03:39 And given the way the Browns defense has performed
03:42 these last couple of weeks, I think
03:43 there's a little bit of anxiety in the fan base.
03:46 But I don't necessarily sense that in the locker room.
03:50 I think they recognize Jacksonville's a pretty good
03:52 football team.
03:54 The fact that Denzel Ward is going to play this weekend is--
03:57 or at least he should play this weekend--
04:00 would be a huge step forward.
04:01 Because I think his absence looks pretty noticeable
04:06 right now.
04:07 And another guy, too, that's really important--
04:09 obviously, Denzel's the headliner.
04:11 But Cam Mitchell coming back off of IR--
04:13 For sure.
04:13 --is massive.
04:14 Because we talked about it the last two weeks,
04:17 no sacks from the defensive line.
04:18 And Jim Schwartz mentioned it yesterday
04:20 in his press conference, how he got after those guys
04:23 and really tried to light a fire on them.
04:24 Well, it's really connected.
04:26 That defensive line has been so great all year,
04:29 not only because they're amazing--
04:30 and Zedaria Smith and Miles Garrett work so well together--
04:34 but because there's oftentimes nowhere to throw in the back
04:36 end.
04:37 And we've seen that the last two games, with Denzel being out
04:41 and with Cam Mitchell being out, that guys are kind of open.
04:43 And when quarterbacks drop back to pass, they can be very quick.
04:47 Last week, Matt Stafford had the quickest time
04:50 to release at 2.4 seconds in all of the NFL.
04:53 Like, I don't care who you are.
04:54 You're not getting home when the quarterback's getting
04:57 the ball out that quickly.
04:58 So I think the defense getting healthier
05:00 and the defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz,
05:03 kind of lighting a fire under those guys
05:04 is going to provide some, hopefully, immediate dividends
05:09 early on Sunday afternoon.
05:10 And so officially, Ward and Mitchell, as of today,
05:14 are questionable.
05:15 The team almost exclusively stays away
05:19 from a probable designation.
05:22 You're either out or questionable or playing.
05:26 That's kind of how things have tended
05:28 to go on the injury report.
05:31 But I'm with you.
05:31 I expect those guys to play this weekend.
05:34 Amare Cooper is also questionable.
05:36 Elijah Moore was asked in the locker room today
05:38 how Cooper looked.
05:39 And he said he looked pretty good.
05:41 He looked essentially like his normal self.
05:43 Take for that what you will.
05:47 The Browns need Amare Cooper on the field.
05:49 I don't think there's ever--
05:50 I don't think there's another way to say it that's
05:52 more realistic than that.
05:54 This offense looks pretty darn different
05:56 when Amare's not out there.
05:57 So they've got to find a way to get him healthy enough
06:00 for Sunday.
06:00 It's truly amazing that the narrative around this team
06:04 has been injuries, injuries, injuries, and the fact
06:06 that they continue to happen.
06:07 And the fact that this team can still withstand them.
06:10 But losing Amare Cooper would be a pretty detrimental blow.
06:14 Because then you're like, OK, you
06:15 got two receivers that are actually legit guys,
06:18 and Cedric Tillman and Elijah Moore.
06:20 While those guys are both very good players,
06:22 it makes it really challenging to execute the pass game.
06:25 And it would just be such a huge problem if Amare can't go.
06:30 So you're hopeful that he is able to go.
06:33 And I think Stefanski even said it.
06:35 He'd had his usual workload, I think,
06:37 was the quote that he said, which
06:39 is a sign in the right direction,
06:40 at least in my opinion.
06:42 So the Browns have played a bunch of road football
06:44 here of late.
06:44 And as you look at the last five games of the regular season,
06:47 three of those five are going to be at home.
06:49 Obviously, starting with the Jaguars this weekend.
06:52 But the Jets and the Bears both come to Cleveland
06:54 with trips to Houston.
06:55 And Cincinnati's still on the schedule.
06:57 And you can't control health.
07:00 But this is the time of year where
07:02 you're starting to hope that if you can figure out
07:05 a way for your depth to be good enough
07:08 and grind out wins, maybe the weather
07:13 isn't as great this time of year in Northeast Ohio.
07:16 And admittedly, we've had some good days here and there.
07:19 The forecast for Sunday, it's still 48 hours away.
07:22 You don't know for sure.
07:23 But it looks like at a minimum, it
07:25 could be a cold and wet day.
07:27 I don't know how much you put into the whole,
07:29 like, oh, well, they're coming from Jacksonville.
07:30 It's nice and warm down there.
07:32 Maybe it'll be difficult for them.
07:33 Because I don't know that that always factors in.
07:36 But I think the Browns have done a pretty good job this year
07:39 of sort of like bringing their opposition down
07:43 into the mud with them.
07:44 And so find a way to just make Jacksonville play the kind
07:49 of game you want to play.
07:50 I think that could be an advantage for Cleveland.
07:52 Yeah, Miles said it not 30 minutes ago.
07:54 But he was like, yeah, we don't play a pretty brand of football
07:57 where it's an ugly, grindy football.
07:59 And that's what December and January ball is all about.
08:02 Like, who is going to be tougher?
08:04 Who is going to-- and especially while this weather starts
08:07 to change, it has the potential on Sunday
08:09 to be very ugly, like windy, rainy, maybe chilly
08:13 a little bit.
08:14 So you get a team, come up here, and just like you said,
08:16 drag them down into the mud.
08:18 Be the enforcer.
08:19 Be the team that's more physical, more hard-nosed.
08:23 And I think that'll prove to be fortunate for the Browns.
08:26 And this team's 5-1 at home.
08:29 There's a legit home field advantage
08:31 at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
08:33 They've had some luck.
08:34 They've had a couple backup quarterbacks come in there.
08:36 They might get another backup quarterback coming in again
08:38 this week.
08:39 So whoever it may be, I think this
08:41 is a great opportunity for this Browns team
08:43 to really establish their will, drag this Jacksonville team
08:46 down in the mud with them, and just muck it up and just escape
08:50 with a victory.
08:51 Doesn't have to be pretty.
08:53 Just have to have more points than the other team.
08:55 I think we should wrap here with what
08:58 has a lot of people's interest right now.
09:00 It's Trevor Lawrence.
09:01 Obviously, suffered what looked to be a nasty-looking injury
09:04 to his ankle last week.
09:07 There was a lot of flack for not having a cart available
09:10 to help him get off the field.
09:12 But again, I'm not a doctor.
09:14 I don't want to pretend to be one.
09:15 But I've certainly heard that if you can walk off a sprain,
09:19 that sometimes that can be helpful.
09:21 And sort of even just the mental convincing yourself,
09:25 like, I'm OK.
09:26 And he got some help getting off the field and all that.
09:29 But gosh, I think I'm a little surprised with what I've seen
09:36 practice film from Trevor Lawrence down in Jacksonville
09:41 this week, some of the stuff that's
09:42 circulated on social media.
09:44 His ankle looks pretty good to me.
09:46 I guess I'm expecting him to play on Sunday.
09:48 I would hope the Browns are too.
09:49 Yeah, my guess is the Browns are preparing for it.
09:52 With what we've seen, it's been limited.
09:53 And he has been limited in practice.
09:55 He hasn't gone through the full practice yet.
09:57 But still, at this level, at this point in the season,
10:01 the clips are funny because they're not even in full pads.
10:04 Everyone's in shells.
10:05 Everyone's in just t-shirts.
10:06 And that's what it is at this point in the year.
10:08 These guys are banged up.
10:09 The practices aren't that big anyway.
10:12 So seeing that, it was like, ah, you go from maybe getting one
10:16 and you're, first of all, really glad he doesn't
10:19 have a huge injury, which it looked like it could have been.
10:21 But you're like, hey, maybe the Browns
10:24 can get away with another backup coming into town.
10:26 But we'll see.
10:27 I think that's going to be one where
10:28 they kind of hold it close to the vest, too,
10:30 and make it a game time decision on Sunday.
10:32 We're going to find out.
10:33 Browns and Jaguars on the shores of Lake Erie
10:37 on what will probably be a quintessential December
10:40 day in Northeast Ohio.
10:42 We can only hope so, right?
10:43 Fingers crossed.
10:44 Should be fun.
10:45 It's a big game.
10:46 The Browns did not necessarily anticipate
10:48 at the beginning of the year that this would be a measuring
10:50 stick kind of game.
10:51 But Jacksonville has squarely put themselves
10:54 in the thick of the playoff race.
10:55 They look like one of the best teams in the AFC.
10:58 And a win for Cleveland would certainly be impressive.
11:01 For all the latest news and info on the Cleveland Browns
11:03 leading up to kickoff, certainly during the game
11:05 and with your immediate reaction postgame,
11:07 we've got you covered on Browns Digest.
11:09 You can follow us here on this YouTube channel.
11:11 We'd certainly appreciate if you'd subscribe there.
11:14 And also over on the website, BrownsDigest.com.
11:17 For Anthony Meglin, I'm Brendan Gulick,
11:19 reporting live from Berea.
11:20 We will see you down on Sunday afternoon down at the stadium.
11:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]