BEREA, Ohio - Things that were said, done and contemplated Monday in the wake of the debacle against Houston at the lakefront:
Either the loss of linebacker Karlos Dansby, the man who makes the defensive calls, will cripple the Browns or they will do just swell because little will be expected of them.
That at least was the choice seemingly presented by the promotion of linebacker Craig Robertson to Dansby's position, given the Browns' overlooked-and-disrespected team mentality.
The Browns seem to want to make sure nobody expects too much of Josh Gordon, who returns from a 10-game substance abuse suspension this week.
For his part, Gordon strolled away from his locker Monday, dressed in green and gold Baylor University gear. That was one of two schools (Utah was the other) where his time was cut short by marijuana violations.
Gordon will speak with reporters Wednesday.
It seems unrealistic to think a player who gained 1,646 receiving yards, and averaged over 117 receiving yards per game for his truncated 14-game 2013 season is just another cog in the hamster wheel of the Browns' offense. But don't bring that view around coach Mike Pettine.
"We've accomplished a lot with the guys we have here. It's not the time for those guys to step back and say, 'This guy is going to be the savior, so to speak,'" said Pettine.
Gordon brings size, speed and, yeah, rustiness to an undersized receiving group. But he wasn't exactly slipped unobtrusively into the lineup when he returned from a two-game suspension for the same thing last season.
In his first game at Minnesota, he caught 10 b***s, was targeted 19 times (of Brian Hoyer's 54 heaves) and scored a touchdown.
If he could sustain it, Gordon's stats off his nearly full season could lead to a historic career. Even an average game by him would be a huge upgrade. He's not LeBron James. But he's not a guy of whom little should be expected or projected either.
Without Jabaal Sheard, Pettine said Barkevious Mingo will have to play through his shoulder injury. He said Mingo has struggled with a protective harness.
Some perspective on Hoyer's 20-of-50, 30-incompletion game:
It was a Browns record, but some were throwaways to avoid sacks.
Some of his closest pursuers were not good quarterbacks, but some were among the franchise's best. Runner-up to Hoyer was Jason Campbell's 29 misses. At 27, twice, was Brandon Weeden.
But at 28 in a single game were Brian Sipe, the driving force for the Kardiac Kids, and Otto Graham, one of the best QBs ever.
So is it like a baseball pitcher who gives up a lot of homers, but is still good enough to send out there for his usual turn in the rotation?
Probably not. Otto likely just had a bad day.
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2014/11/cleveland_browns_vs_houston_te.html
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