CLEVELAND, Ohio — The only big name on the inactive lists of the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers is LaMarr Woodley.

Woodley has battled hamstring problems of late. He didn’t play in the first meeting Dec. 8 in Pittsburgh. Jason Worilds will start for Woodley. Headhunter James Harrison mans the other starting linebacker spot.

The Browns inactives are: Receiver Jordan Norwood, quarterback Colt McCoy, receiver Rod Windsor, defensive back James Dockery, center Steve Vallos, defensive tackle Kiante Tripp and right tackle Tony Pashos.

Artis Hicks will start for Pashos. Oniel Cousins may also play.

Other Steelers inactives: Running back Mewelde Moore, linebacker Chris Carter, center Doug Legursky, defensive end Al Woods, offensive tackle Jamon Meredith and receiver Arnaz Battle.

Coordinator news: ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported the Browns indeed will hire an offensive coordinator in 2012. It’s a story Cleveland-area media reported months ago when Browns President Mike Hollmgren first said a coordinator was in the offing for next season.

Mortensen speculated on ex-Andy Reid assistant coach and Minnesota head coach Brad Childress as a leading candidate. Childress’ name has been circulated in previous local reports, along with that of Mike Sherman, former Holmgren aide in Green Bay.

Childress and Sherman are represented by Bob LaMonte, who controls the Browns’ executive front. LaMonte is a long-time friend and business associate of Holmgren, and also represents General Manager Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur.

One longshot candidate who is outside the LaMonte inner circle is Karl Dorrell, who is part of the lame-duck coaching staff of the Miami Dolphins.

 

By MIKE KEATING

The Review

CANTON TWP. — A former Cleveland Browns quarterback shared his thoughts on the current signal caller when he addressed the Pro Football Hall of Fame Club at its weekly luncheon Monday afternoon.

Before he suffered a concussion against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which forced him to miss the next two games, Colt McCoy was the daily focal point of attention by Cleveland sportstalk shows. Many of the hosts and the callers believe McCoy, who is in his second year with the Browns, isn’t the long-term solution.

Mike Pagel, a pregame analyst on the Browns radio network, is unsure, offering several reasons.

“I think it takes 3-5 years for a young quarterback to understand the game,” Pagel explained. “He’s playing with a bunch of young receivers in a complicated offense, guys who have to make adjustments on the fly. He’s also had to deal with the Peyton Hillis (strep throat and hamstring) issue.

There also are two rookie guards, two tight ends (Benjamin Watson and Alex Smith) are beat up, and he also has a third-year starting center (Alex Mack).”

Pagel, 51, who was the understudy to Cleveland starting quarterback Bernie Kosar from 1986 to 1990, says first-year head coach Pat Shurmur was delivered an unfair hand before his first Cleveland training camp, although he held him accountable for one decision.

“Two things went against him,” Pagel opined. “The NFL lockout killed the organization, because you have a new head coach with a new coaching staff who hasn’t worked together starting late. However, I thought he made a mistake trying to be both head coach and offensive coordinator. Head coach and offensive coordinator are two full-time jobs.”

When queried on the forthcoming NFL College Player Draft, Pagel offered his wish list for General Manager Tom Heckert.

“The Browns need another defensive end, a playmaking outside linebacker, another cover cornerback, four wide receivers and a running back,” he smiled. “I wouldn’t draft a running back in the first round, because I think you can find a good one later, unless you get a chance to draft a ‘can’t miss prospect.’ My guess is they will focus on the defense first and beef it up, drafting another defensive end and a playmaking outside linebacker.”

Since joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1999, the Browns sport an odious won-loss record. With one regular-season game remaining against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns are only 68-140. They have only posted two winning seasons in 13 years. This year’s team is 4-11, producing its 11th season of double-digit losses.

With five head coaches and four general managers, there has been no continuity with the expansion Browns. There also has been no philosophy, a topic Pagel expanded.

“There is no Cleveland Browns way of playing football,” he stated. “They have never had a method or set direction on how to play. They don’t have the right mentality on winning. They hope to win; they don’t know how to win.”

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Welcome to today’s edition of Starting Blocks TV, hosted by Bill Lubinger.

The Browns are 2-1 heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. home game against the Tennessee Titans. Which team will win, and by how much? That’s the question in today’s Starting Blocks poll.

Today’s guest on SBTV is Plain Dealer Browns reporter Tony Grossi, who says he expects the Browns to win in a close game.

Tony also answers fan questions from his weekly Hey, Tony! feature. Today, he answers questions about how good the current Browns defensive line can be; whether linebacker Chris Gocong is worth the new contract he received this week; and what kind of job he thinks Browns general manager Tom Heckert has done so far.

SBTV will return Monday with Plain Dealer Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot breaking down Sunday’s Browns-Titans game.

And don’t miss this week’s edition of the Browns Insider webcast, which streamed at 10 a.m. Thursday and is available in archived version now.

 

 

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Know why the Browns are 2-1? Because they keep beating bad teams.

Over and over, I’ve heard that. Yes, the Browns are 2-1, but the three teams that they’ve played are a combined 1-8. All of that is true, but it brings up two questions:

1. What would you rather have them do, lose to bad team?

2. Aren’t the Browns a bad team?

The Browns have been a bad team ever since they returned in 1999. They’ve had two winning seasons. They played in one playoff game and lost. They are 14-34 in the last three years.

So the complaint about beating bad teams is strange. At this point, any victory has meaning — especially because the Browns don’t appear to be fooled by their best start since 2002. Coach Pat Shurmur went from saying his team made a “boatload of mistakes” to now a “freighter” to required to haul all the video tapes of missed assignments and other football indiscretions.

Those words came after Sunday’s 17-16 victory over the Dolphins. Don’t be surprised if Shurmur hauls out a reference to the entire Pacific fleet after the next game. He knows his West Coast offense and quarterback Colt McCoy waver from erratic to inconsistent. He’s upset because there have been too many penalties, and the defensive stupor that cost the Browns a chance to beat the Bengals still gnaws at him.

The defense has been respectable, but does not dominate.

No one should confuse this with a playoff team, not in the powerful AFC North. If it hasn’t already, reality will strike starting in December when four of their final five games are against Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

But if anything is ever to change, they need some early success with their rookie coach who has implemented a new offense and defense. They must show they can make some adjustments, as they did after the opening game loss to the Bengals. They were flagged for 11 penalties, and seven were unforced — jumping offside, illegal formations and too many men on the field.

In the last two games, there have been only three such errors. You can make it four, if you want to count the “excessive celebration” penalty, which seemed rather subdued. That is a very positive sign.

They are a team using a dozen players who are in their first two pro seasons. That’s critical. The Browns were 9-7 with mostly a veteran roster in 2002. The next four years, they were 5-11, 4-12, 6-10 and 4-12.

One of the keys to this season is making sure the key draft choices and younger players spend a lot of time on the field. The idea isn’t simply to raise the record from the usual 5-11 to 7-9 or 8-8. It’s to make sure the Browns find out about McCoy, Peyton Hillis, Greg Little, Montario Hardesty and so many others. They are starting two first-rounders and two second-rounders picked by General Manager Tom Heckert on defense, and four more of his picks on offense.

Are they the real thing? This season is a good time to find out — and also win some games in the process, be it against bad teams or anyone else.

BEREA, Ohio — When the Browns reported to training camp July 28, new coach Pat Shurmur was meeting some of his players for the first time. That was only five weeks ago.

At that time, so much about this Browns team and season was uncertain. The foremost concern was whether a first-time head coach could overcome unique obstacles laid in front of him by the owners’ lockout and get a new offense and defense installed in time for the season opener Sept. 11.

We can breathe easier and answer “yes” to that.

The biggest accomplishment of the Browns’ preseason was allaying fears of a team entering the season unready.

It looked good enough at times, in fact, to pique the interest of national media starving for a team under the radar to ballyhoo.

Shurmur, his coaches and the staff of General Manager Tom Heckert huddle today to pare their roster from 80 players to 53. The final cuts have to be reported to the NFL office by 6 p.m. Heckert does not intend to make the transactions public — for competitive reasons still difficult to understand — until later in the night.

So the quality of the final roster is a debate for the next day. For now, we can make some assertions based on what we learned during Shurmur’s first camp and preseason.

“I learned that these guys are willing to embrace change,” Shurmur said after the preseason finale in Chicago on Thursday night. “I think we’ve got a team with a bunch of high-quality, character guys. We have some characters, which you need.

“I feel like we’ve got, quietly here, some playmakers who will help us win games. I’m looking forward to the speed and emotion of week one with these guys.”

These are things I think I learned over the past five weeks:

1. They’re in good hands with Colt McCoy at quarterback.

He’s the smartest to play the position here since Bernie Kosar. His complete absorption of Shurmur’s West Coast offense was critical. He got that done and now is in position to develop quickly.

2. The makeup of the coaching staff was ingenious and helped Shurmur immensely.

It was imperative to have experienced coaches in the mix such as Dick Jauron, Ray Rhodes, Dwaine Board and Keith Gilbertson. But bringing back Eric Mangini holdovers George Warhop, Gary Brown, Steve Hagen and Jerome Henderson was a smart way to maintain some continuity.

3. The offensive line still can be a team strength.

The loss for the season of left guard Eric Steinbach was a blow, no doubt. By itself, though, it doesn’t devastate the overall strength of the line. Whether it’s rookie Jason Pinkston, veteran pickup John Greco or somebody else who eventually fills that spot, the other starters can compensate until stability is established.

And by the way, Shawn Lauvao looks like a different player at right guard in his second season. “You can check that [question] off your list,” left tackle Joe Thomas told me last week. “Shawn’s going to be a real good player for a long time.”

4. The offense will be noticeably better immediately.

Shurmur’s urgency to practice the rhythm of his complicated pass offense should not lead to the automatic conclusion that the running game will suffer.

“We’re going to run the ball just as well as we did last year,” tight end Evan Moore said. “And we’re going to throw the ball better than we did last year.”

5. The defensive line will suffer growing pains.

There’s going to be a price paid for starting two rookies and another young player who didn’t play a down last year. But if they stay healthy, you’ve got to believe they will develop more quickly by playing and should be more effective for the Pittsburgh and Baltimore showdowns in December.

6. The receiver situation may not be as bleak as most contend.

Rookie Greg Little’s drops decreased consistently the past three weeks. He could be the key to the whole group. He is very raw but has playmaker ability and mentality. Josh Cribbs, too, could flourish in the offense. The others have been unspectacular but more reliable than they’re given credit.

Plus, the constant threat of the tight ends should occupy defenses’ attention and make it a little easier for the wideouts to get open.

7. The penalties are something to watch, of course.

The Browns had 36 penalties in four games, compared with 25 last year. But their opponents’ rose at a higher rate — from 18 a year ago to 35. My hunch is that the lack of off-season minicamps, along with overzealous officials, played a role in the increases.

8. Middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson is poised to make an impact. His determination is infectious.

9. The depth at cornerback is stronger than it’s been in some time.

10. Team speed has been upgraded substantially on defense.

11. Yes, the roster is thin and can’t sustain a lot of injuries. But don’t expect a rash of veteran signings after the leaguewide cuts. More than likely, new players added will fall into the under-30 category, and there aren’t a lot of them made available.