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.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

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.”

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

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.

Thanks for reading! .

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.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Thanks for reading! .

BEREA, Ohio –

The Cleveland Browns have signed free agent punter Richmond McGee to replace Reggie Hodges, who suffered a season-ending injury.

McGee, recently waived by the Chicago Bears, was brought in for a tryout after Hodges tore his Achilles’ tendon during practice Tuesday. McGee has spent part of two seasons on the Bears’ practice squad. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Philadelphia in 2008, when Browns general manager Tom Heckert was with the Eagles.

The Browns also signed cornerback Dimitri Patterson, who started nine games last season for the Eagles. He has appeared in 50 regular-season games since joining the NFL with Washington in 2005. Last season, Patterson recorded a career-high 62 tackles and four interceptions.

Cleveland also signed undrafted free agent linebackers Archie Donald and Eric Gordon.

Leave any suggestions in the comment box.

BEREA, Ohio — The Browns today traded a fifth-round pick in 2012 for defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley, the Eagles announced.

Bunkley was a originally a first-round pick — No. 14 overall — out of Florida State in 2006. He was known primarily as a run-stopper in Philadelphia and was credited with dramatically improving the Eagles’ run defense after he cracked the starting lineup in 2007.

He was a full-time starter in from 2007-09, but started only five of his 14 games last season in part because of a nagging arm injury. Bunkley was picked by the Eagles in current Browns GM Tom Heckert’s first season as general manager there.

The Browns made the trade on the same day that rookie defensive tackle Phil Taylor, the No. 21 overall pick, held out of the first day of training camp in a contract dispute. The two sides continued to negotiate on Saturday.

Bunkley (6-2, 306) will work inside along with Taylor and Ahytba Rubin and most likely be part of a rotation. During his five seasons in Philadelphia, he totaled 262 tackles — 146 solo — and six sacks. 

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — NFL players have applied the brakes to ending the owners’ lockout.

The owners wanted players to report to team facilities on Saturday, and for training camps and free agency to open on Wednesday.

But their stipulation that players must approve the deal first and reform their union antagonized the players. They felt owners were cramming a proposal down their throats and wanted time to read it more thoroughly. There are also a number of issues that can only be resolved after the players union is recertified.

On Friday, ESPN reported that players received an email from NFLPA player reps that advised them to stand pat until Monday, when the executive committee will meet again to discuss how they want to proceed.

“With no agreement, we certainly won’t be returning,” said Browns tight end Evan Moore via Twitter.

Thus, the doors of the Browns’ facility in Berea remained closed to players on Saturday.

“I think things are kind of on hold right now,” coach Pat Shurmur said Friday.

The only team activity scheduled is the inaugural Cleveland Browns Motorcycle Rally organized by President Mike Holmgren. But those expecting the Big Show to roll in on his Harley-Davidson and rescue this seemingly endless labor dispute are mistaken.

In the name of charity, Holmgren will lead a pack of motorcyclists Saturday morning from South East Harley-Davidson on Cleveland’s east side to Cleveland Browns Stadium. Afterward, Holmgren is scheduled to make his first comments since attending the NFL ratification meeting in Atlanta with owner Randy Lerner.

Other Browns executives — notably General Manager Tom Heckert — remained in Atlanta for a four-hour seminar on restarting their football operations in accordance with terms of the proposed new collective bargaining agreement.

These provisions included the timeline for building rosters, terms of the new rookie wage scale, and the disclosure — finally — of players qualifying for unrestricted and restricted free agency.

Some new wrinkles of the proposed CBA were made known on Friday. GMs learned that game-day rosters will expand by one to 46 players, as the third quarterback will now be deemed an active player. Also, practice rules were clarified.

Two-a-day practices in training camp with pads are banned. (The Browns have not practiced with pads twice in the same day in several years.) During the regular season, teams are allowed to practice in pads one day per week. In the last five weeks of the season, they can practice in pads one day a week in only three of those weeks.

“I don’t think that will be a huge adjustment,” Shurmur said.

Like everything else so far in his halting debut as Browns coach, Shurmur is allowing the latest delay to roll off his back. He was named Browns coach on Jan. 13 and still has been unable to meet his entire squad since the lockout started on March 12.

“You know what, I’m not frustrated,” Shurmur said. “This is the time of year when we all in the coaching business get ready to practice. So I’m anticipating the start.

“I think what’s gonna happen when they show up is we’ll see where they’re at physically, what they’ve learned on their own and then move forward from that point. Based on what I’ve read (about the players-only camps), I feel good about the fact our players have taken the opportunity to get together. I think that will be helpful in ways.”

The timetable set forth in the owners’ proposal actually falls in line with Shurmur’s original schedule. Under the owners’ proposal, players would report on Wednesday and have three days of physicals, conditioning, meetings and light workouts. That would have put them on the field in pads for the first time roughly on July 30 — Shurmur’s original opening date.

But the planned opening league-wide on Wednesday remains stalled until players approve the global settlement announced by owners.

Browns linebacker Scott Fujita, a member of the NFLPA executive board, attended meetings in Washington, D.C., and could not be reached for comment.

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Cleveland, Ohio — Jake Delhomme made a little more than $7 million last year to throw for less than 900 yards. Good work if you can get it, we suppose.

But where he truly was invaluable was as a mentor to young quarterback Colt McCoy, who was pressed into service after injuries to Delhomme and the projected backup, Seneca Wallace. That led to the discovery that hey, this third-round pick really can play … and took the clipboard right out of McCoy’s hand. He’s now the anointed starter.

Wallace, who was with Browns President Mike Holmgren in Seattle, has been signed to back him up. But he’s not been seen — or so it’s said — at any of the “Camp Colt” players-only practices during the lockout.

Delhomme, as James Walker of ESPN.com and many others have pointed out, is scheduled to make $5.4 million this year, the last of his two-year deal with the Browns. That’s just flat not going to happen. Nobody is going to pay a third-stringer that much money. If he re-signs with the Browns, it will be with a new deal, for significantly less cash.

Thus, the option is that he can go elsewhere. Someone might believe the 36-year-old still has some gas in the tank. Shoot, Holmgren and his general manager, Tom Heckert, did a couple of years ago.

Or he could take the pay cut and stay here. But will it be as a third stringer … or will Holmgren and Heckert, along with new coach Pat Shurmur, shift Delhomme into the No. 2 role and perhaps trade Wallace to fill one of the team’s many needs. Like, oh, say a wideout who can A) get open and B) catch the ball?

That’s one of the problems with the lockout: too much time on our hands to ponder possibilities. Still, we wonder …

How will the Browns handle the Jake Delhomme quandary?survey software

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Free-agent fullback Lawrence Vickers isn’t angry about the Browns’ evident decision to replace him with fourth-round draft pick Owen Marecic of Stanford. He just doesn’t understand it.

Vickers wasn’t given a contract tender by the Browns before the owners’ lockout. He hasn’t spoken to new coach Pat Shurmur or General Manager Tom Heckert about his future.

When the team selected Marecic on the third day of the draft, “I was like, ‘Wow,’ but at the same time I laughed. I don’t know what their plans are,” Vickers said. He spoke publicly about his future for the first time in a phone interview.

“I’m not disappointed because I understand business totally,” Vickers said. “In business, you’ve got to make decisions that are for the business.

“If it is the end of me, kudos to Cleveland. I’m not angry. My own personal goal was to be in one spot for my whole career. I love Cleveland. I wanted to be like Kevin Mack, who spent his whole career there.

“If it is my departure in Cleveland, I’m going out with a bang. The team is on the rise.

“Am I mad at Tom or even Mike [Holmgren]? No. I’ll see them. I’ll shake their hands.”

The Browns have never articulated their plans at fullback in their new West Coast offense. After drafting Marecic, Heckert said of Vickers, “When the league starts [after the lockout], we’ll see.”

Shurmur has said that every back in his offense needs to be able to catch the ball. If Shurmur and his staff determined that Vickers was not a good fit in their offense, Vickers said they made a mistake.

He said he was known as a versatile fullback as a rookie in 2006 coming out of Colorado, which ran an offense copied from Mike Shanahan’s West Coast system with the Denver Broncos at the time.

Vickers had more than 500 yards rushing and receiving in his career at Colorado.

“I am a West Coast fullback. That’s what they don’t understand,” he said.

He said he became typecast as a “knockout fullback” the past two years because that’s how he earned playing time.

“I was on a team where they don’t even use a fullback,” he said of the Browns’ offense under former coach Eric Mangini. “Mangini’s era wasn’t really a fullback era. I played just on [the belief that] ‘this person has to be on the field.’ Everything I got wasn’t given. I took it. Our offense was based on New England’s. They don’t even have a fullback.”

Vickers’ reputation as an explosive lead-blocker actually began in Romeo Crennel’s last two seasons in 2007 and ’08. He paved the way for successive 1,000-yard rushing seasons by Jamal Lewis, who was running on bald tires and leaking oil. In 2009, when Lewis went down with concussion symptoms, Vickers’ crushing lead blocks helped Jerome Harrison amass 561 yards in the final three games.

“Maybe if I wasn’t knocking people out, maybe I’d still be known as a versatile fullback,” Vickers said. “Anybody that watches football knows. The last two years, I haven’t caught the ball. I wasn’t a part of the offense. So I made a way for me to be on the field. That’s what a football player does. Anybody that can make his presence on the field without the ball is a helluva guy.

“I played in the West Coast offense at Colorado. When I first came to the NFL, my first carry was at tailback. In [former coordinator Rob Chudzinski] Chud’s offense, look at how many passes I caught [23 in two seasons].

“People have short-term memories. I forgive them for that. What I’ve done for you lately is knock people out. That’s only because that’s all that was left for me to do.”

Vickers is not worried that the traditional fullback position seems to be on the endangered list in the NFL as teams load up on multiple-receiver sets and spread the ball through the air.

“I don’t care where you are, you can pass the ball all over the place. Come November and December, you’re going to have to run the ball eventually,” he said. “Green Bay ran the ball even in their pass offense.

“I think people are getting away from the stud fullbacks because there aren’t too many left in the league. But if you have one, you keep him.”

Vickers said he won’t give up hope of returning to the Browns until he is told, “Vickers, it’s over.” But he’s not blind to the obvious.

“I just hope I don’t have to come to Cleveland in a different uniform because it’s gonna be bad [for the Browns],” he said. “Those [Browns linebackers] are my guys. They know they will come with it and I will come with it. It’s gonna be one of those all-time Cleveland games.”

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670

There is the quick update of the day.

Welcome to today’s edition of Starting Blocks TV, hosted by Chuck Yarborough and Branson Wright, who are working toward the weekend (with apologies to any of those who might be reminded of the Loverboy tune of a similar name) by talking to Plain Dealer Browns writer Tony Grossi.

Fridays are Hey Tony! days, when Branson and Chuck pose your Cleveland Browns questions to Tony. And since it’s an all-Browns, all-the-time day, the guys decided to put together today’s Starting Blocks poll, which asks which Browns legend should be honored with a statue outside Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Tony, as usual, cut right to the chase: Forget Otto Graham, forget Jim Brown, forget anybody who wore the uniform. The man who deserves a statue is Browns founder, and the first head coach, Paul Brown.

Tony stopped the debate with that answer. You know, when you’re right, you’re right.

But the easy questions ended right there for T. Readers want to know if Matt Roth, one of the pending free agents in this lockout era, has any interest in returning to the team. Before the regime change, most likely not, Tony said. But now? Well, Tony said Roth would be a pretty good fit at left defensive end, the position he played in college, in new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron’s 4-3 defense. But before the season ended, he got the sense that Roth was really interested in trying free agency.

Tony also tackled a couple of draft questions, noting again that Donovan McNabb was a better pick for the Eagles in 1999 than Tim Couch was for the Browns, and reiterating his opinion that trading down in this year’s draft may end up biting the Browns and General Manager Tom Heckert in the behind.

Tune in to SBTV on Monday when reporter Dennis Manoloff joins the guys to talk Indians, the NBA and whatever else tickles his fancy.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Cleveland, Ohio — The Dallas Cowboys in the early ’90s were a pretty good team. Troy Aikman survived a 1-15 rookie year to develop into a smart, confident quarterback. Emmitt Smith should’ve come with a saddle on his back. Michael Irvin didn’t have a ton of speed, but he ran routes (and pushed off, to be fair) so precise that he might be off a couple of millimeters. Daryl Johnston went from 6-foot-2 to 6-0 blocking from the fullback position (the latter is a guess, but an educated one).

So how did the Cowboys become perennial Super Bowl contenders and/or winners? Two words: Jay Novacek.

The tight end became Aikman’s safety valve, more comforting than Linus’s blanket.

So it’s understandable why coach Pat Shurmur got a little hot in Thursday’s conference call with about 5,000 Browns season ticketholders when one suggested the team had no playmakers, and pointed to the production of tight end Ben Watson.

That’s where profootballtalk.com’s Greg Rosenthal chimes in:

That says it all.  You are in deep trouble when Watson is the first and only name that gets brought up when your playmakers are questioned.

Don’t get us wrong:  Watson was a great free agent signing last year, producing careers highs in catches (68) and yards (763) at age 30. Ideally, he’s your third or fourth option though.  The next best receiving yardage number on the team was Mohammad Massaquoi with 483 yards.

Yeah, that’s true. They don’t have a wideout (at least not in the unimaginative offense of ex-offensive coordinator Brian Daboll), and truly, the tight end SHOULDN’T be the major threat through the air. So we’ll give that one to Rosenthal … sort of.

But we go back to our first installment: The Cowboys were good before Novacek. They were champions WITH him. Don’t underestimate the playmaking ability of Ben Watson (and Evan Moore, who’s next on the depth chart behind Watson).

Gridlock
* James Walker, who blogs about the AFC North for ESPN.com, answers reader mail on Fridays, a lot like The Plain Dealer’s Tony Grossi in his Hey Tony! feature (and today’s SBTV show). Both men field questions that almost always are interesting. Our favorite today for Walker asks if former Ohio State star Vernon Gholston, recently let go by the Jets, would be a good fit for the Browns. Walker’s answer:

Someone will give Gholston another chance, Allan. But the Browns are switching to a 4-3 defense and I don’t see Gholston fitting into that scheme. I’ve covered New York Jets coach Rex Ryan since he was in Baltimore, and I have a lot of respect for his coaching ability, particularly on defense. And if Ryan couldn’t get anything out of Gholston in two years, there’s a good chance he’s legitimately a bust. Sometimes a change of scenery can help a player, but for Ryan to give up on Gholston says a lot.

In other words, it’s more likely that the Browns will cut Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace  and resign Brian Sipe and Spurgeon Wynn.

* Scott Garbarini of the Sports Network chimes in with his latest mock draft. He’s figuring on Browns President Mike Holmgren having the team tap Georgia wideout A.J. Green.

* The court-ordered talks between the NFL and the players not-a-union-union have recessed till Tuesday, ESPN reports.

From The Plain Dealer
Browns writer Tony Grossi breaks out his Mock Draft 8.0, and this time, he has the team tapping Alabama receiver Julio Jones, he of the 4.39 40 at the NFL Combine. But there are other scenarios that could unfold, depending on who goes to whom in the first five picks of the draft.

Not to wish our lives away, but April 28 can’t get her quickly enough.

Tony also wrote a piece off the conference call with the ticketholders. General Manager Tom Heckert paradoxically said that while the team’s draft board is pretty well set, they don’t know who they’re going to choose with that No. 6 pick.

“Right now, we’re just going through different scenarios. If we trade up, who do we trade up for? If we trade back, who can we still get? Those are the things we’re pretty much thinking of.”

Thirteen days. Just 13 more days.

 

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Cleveland, Ohio — Most draft experts (and that pretty much means anyone with access to a computer and the Internet) say that Auburn’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton will be the first pick of the draft and end up wearing Carolina blue.

But prognosticators aren’t always right and because of the current NFL labor situation, this is an extremely weird draft season. Teams can trade picks but not players, free agents can’t sign, etc.

So, what will President Mike Holmgren, assistant Gil Haskell, General Manager (and draft guru) Tom Heckert and coach Pat Shurmur do if by some chance Carolina, Denver, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Arizona — all of whom pick before the Browns — pass on Newton? Twenty-six teams pick after the Browns. Of those, only half are pretty much set at the quarterback position.

Moreover, one of those set at QB is New England, which already has two first-round picks. It’s not impossible to conjure up a scenario where Bill Belichick and the Browns get involved with another team for a three-way draft-choice trade.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

If Auburn QB Cam Newton is available at the No. 6 pick, the Browns should …survey software

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

 CLEVELAND, Ohio — With the NFL Draft two weeks away, the Browns don’t know which player they will choose at No. 6 in the first round — or even if they will stay at No. 6.

“[Our draft board] is pretty much set,” General Manager Tom Heckert said on a conference call with season-ticket holders. “There are obviously some tweaks. We’re not exactly sure exactly who we’re going to take with the first pick. It all depends on what happens in front of us.

“Right now, we’re just going through different scenarios. If we trade up, who do we trade up for? If we trade back, who can we still get? Those are the things we’re pretty much thinking of.”

Heckert was joined by coach Pat Shurmur, who filled in for President Mike Holmgren, who had to skip because he wasn’t feeling well.

Heckert said he and Shurmur’s assistant coaches will meet next week to complete the team’s plans for the draft April 28-30.

Heckert would not confirm media reports of the marquee names who have been among the Browns’ allowable 30 player visits.

“As far as somebody we’re thinking of taking at No. 6, it’s pretty much safe to say we’ve had him in here,” he said.

Heckert and Shurmur tried to downplay the universal belief the Browns must focus on defensive line and wide receiver early in the draft.

“It’s easy to look at the glorified positions and say we always want those, but you still have to make sure the grunt work is done and you have good players up front, too,” Heckert said.

On other topics:

• Shurmur reiterated his confidence in quarterback Colt McCoy, saying he has “all the attributes you’re looking for.” Shurmur also said he intends to be “aggressive, yet smart” as a play-caller.

• Shurmur said the switch to a 4-3 defensive system was made because he and Heckert are comfortable with it, and the team’s defensive front needed to get younger, anyway.

The conference call was set up ostensibly for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to interact with fans and assure them he’s doing everything possible to end the labor dispute and have the 2011 season start on time. League spokesman Greg Aiello Tweeted that more than 5,000 Browns ticket-holders were on the call.

Goodell joined the call about 40 minutes in during a break from mediation talks in Minneapolis. He could not guarantee no games would be missed and said that the league has a contingency to postpone the Super Bowl one week beyond its Feb. 5 scheduled date. He also said the league has the option of reducing the bye period before the Super Bowl to one week — if need be.

“We prefer not to do it, but you always have that option,” Goodell said. “Right now, we want to play the schedule as it’s laid out.”

Goodell said he hopes to have the full 2011 regular-season schedule announced in 10 days.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tgrossi@plaind.com, 216-999-4670

What do you guys think about this.

 BEREA — General Manager Tom Heckert admitted Thursday on a conference call with season ticket holders that he’s not sure whom the Browns will take with their first pick at No. 6.

 Or even if they will be picking at No. 6.

 ”(Our draft board) is pretty much set,” Heckert said. “There are obviously some tweaks. We’re not exactly sure exactly who we’re going to take with the first pick. It all depends on what happens in front of us.

 ”Right now, we’re just going thru different scenarios. If we trade up, who do we trade up for? If we trade back, who can we still get? Those are the things we’re pretty much thinking of.”

 Heckert would not confirm media reports of the marquee names who have been among the Browns’ allowable 30 player visits.

 ”As far as somebody we’re thinking of taking at No. 6, it’s pretty much safe to say we’ve had him in here.”

 Heckert was joined by coach Pat Shurmur, who filled in for President Mike Holmgren, who had to skip because he wasn’t feeling well.

 Shurmur confirmed to a questioner several points he has made in previous reports — that he believes quarterback Colt McCoy has all the skills to be successful, that the team is not as bereft of offensive talent as is publicly believed, that the switch to the 4-3 defense was made because he and Heckert are most comfortable with it.

 Commissioner Roger Goodell took a break from labor mediation meetings in Minneapolis, Minn.,  and joined the conference call about 40 minutes in.
 
 Goodell said the league hopes to announce its complete 2011 regular-season schedule in 10 days and he is working hard to have the season played in its entirety.

 Goodell did say there are contingencies built into this season to have the Super Bowl in Indianapolis played a week later than the scheduled date of Feb. 5. He also said the league has the option of reducing the two-week bye to one week — if need be.

 ”We prefer not to do it, but you always have that option,” Goodell said. “Right now, we want to play the sechedule as its laid out.”

 According to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, more than 5,000 ticket holders were on the call.
 

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