BEREA, Ohio — Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown, who’s seen a lot in his 10 years in the NFL, held court on a getaway day Monday and said he’s not waiting for a college star such as Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III to come in and be the savior of this 4-12 team.

“I’m definitely not, and if you are, you’re crazy,” he said.

Brown stressed that one or two rookies — the Browns will have the fourth overall pick in the April draft and the Falcons’ first-round pick in the 20s, aren’t going to change the fortunes of this rebuilding team, at least not overnight.

“My thing is, if you’re dependent on a draft pick to come in here and change your life, then you’re kidding yourself,” he said. “This game is too hard. There’s too big of a jump to come from college and think that he’s going to come in … who does it? Maybe Randy Moss did it. So you already know the pattern. It’s not that.”

So what will it take for the Browns to compete in the AFC North, where their three foes are skipping off to the playoffs?

“The guys here have to step their game up to another level because they’re experienced,” said Brown. “When you lose close games, you can go back and maybe point to one or two drops, or one or two miscues. When things like that happen, I bet you go back and you say ‘ah, [it was] a young player [who] hadn’t been in that situation. Hadn’t experienced it.’ Well now he’s experienced it and he won’t do it again.

“Most rookies, anyway, they get hurt because they get tired and they don’t understand the speed and the strength of this game at the professional level. So I’m never sold on high draft picks.”

Brown said he’s not spewing lip service when he says the Browns are close to being a good team. They lost six games by seven points or less, and went down to the wire most games with their division rivals, although they finished 0-6 in the division for only the second time since 1999.

“We’re very close,” said Brown, who went to the playoffs with the Eagles six times, including one Super Bowl. “It’s one or two plays each game. You just have to find the playmakers and they just have to understand the sense of urgency and make the play.”

But don’t Browns fans hear the same thing every year?

“I didn’t tell you this last year,” he said. “I thought we were way off last year, from a lot of other things we were having to deal with. You can say whatever you want to say, but I do believe that and I came from an organization where we’d start 0-4 — sometimes 0-3 — and we were one or two plays out, and we found a way to start making those plays. Then we’d run off eight in a row, and then the people that were laughing, they don’t seem to laugh any more.”

Brown is convinced coach Pat Shurmur — who took a critical beating by some fans and media this season — is the right man for the job.

“I think he did a tremendous job, dealing with being a head coach for the first time,” said Brown. “Everybody thinks it’s an easy job, everybody wants to sit in a room and say, ‘I can do this better, I can do that better.’ He dealt with the situations the best he could, and he kept this football team fighting. For me, that’s how I judge a head coach.

“If a football team goes out there and competes week in and week out, through thick and through thin — and it was very thick this year — but we didn’t quit. So that tells me that the leader is in place and the guys believe in him and they will fight. If you put a football team out there that’s giving up 40 points, scoring nothing and they’re quitting, that tells me that the leader in place is not the guy.”

Can he make the jump in year two?

“He can definitely make a jump,” said Brown. “But the most important thing is that the players have to make the jump. And the players have to make the plays.

“I think this coaching staff is in place for a while. The worst thing that I’ve known of the history of the Browns is, one or two years and they want to blow it up. People want to think that it changes in one or two years. There’s a process that you have to go through in this league and you have to be patient to do it.

“The coaching staff did the best [they could] with their knowledge of the players, not having an off-season to really get to know the guys. They put them in the best positions that they knew how to make plays on the field, and I think it’s heading in the right direction.”

As for the defense, which finished 10th overall, Brown is certain it’s on solid footing.

“Anytime you have a [middle] linebacker like D’Qwell Jackson, your foundation is in place,” said Brown. “Anytime you have a starting defensive tackle — and I’ve played with some good ones — like Ahtyba Rubin, motor doesn’t stop, intense guy, angry player, studies, and he brings the young guys like Jabaal Sheard and Phil Taylor along with him, it’s in place. You’ve got Joe Haden, T.J. Ward, young players in the secondary, the foundation is in place.

“We had to go through the growing pains of being young, but the foundation is in place and I think it’s going in the right direction.”

While losing teams such as the Rams and Bucs fired their coaches Monday, other Browns agreed that this is a 4-12 team on the rise.

“My rookie year I played for Green Bay and we were 6-10 and there wasn’t a whole lot of turnover on that roster,” said tight end Evan Moore. “They had a lot of young guys that they let grow up in that system and look at them now. Granted, that team has a lot of talent and I believe we do, too. We have a lot of young guys I think are only going to get better.

“I think it goes without saying that a foundation needs time. Guys need time to mature and I think we have the makings here of something that could be pretty impressive if guys are given time to mature.”

Said kicker Phil Dawson: “We were in a lot of games. It’s death by inches, though. How are you going to look at that? Are we that close, or is that just the nature of the league? It depends on your personality, how you’re going to view that.

“In my little world, if my plant foot misses the spot by a quarter-inch, I miss the kick. That will probably tell you how I look at it. Everybody looks at themselves critically and figures out how they can improve. If we do that, now these close games are coming out in our favor. Hopefully that’s the way guys respond to it.”

On Twitter: @marykaycabot

BEREA, Ohio — Colt McCoy is making progress from his concussion and still has a chance to start Sunday. But will the Browns start their second-year QB against James Harrison and the Steelers’ No. 1-ranked defense?

McCoy, who sat out games in Arizona and Baltimore, hasn’t yet been cleared to practice, but coach Pat Shurmur said Monday that if he’s able to practice on Wednesday “there’s a chance he can play.” But Shurmur was still unwilling to commit to McCoy, even if he gets the green light from the medical staff.

“I can’t cross that bridge yet,” said Shurmur. “We’ll know more Wednesday when we start practicing for the Steelers and then we’ll talk about it then. And I’m not trying to be vague. That’s the case.”

McCoy felt better last week, but not enough to make the trip to Baltimore. He did some physical activity, including using the elliptical machine, but apparently still had symptoms that prevented him from team practices.

Shurmur said McCoy has increased his activity this week, but wasn’t specific. The Browns are off on Tuesday and begin full preparation for the Steelers on Wednesday.

“Colt worked out [Monday] and was in all of the meetings,” said Shurmur. “He’s making improvement.”

If McCoy is cleared to start, will the Browns throw him back in there? Here are a number of things to consider:

1. He’d be going up against Harrison, whose helmet-to-helmet blow on Dec. 8 gave him the concussion.

2. Harrison was suspended a game for the hit, which cost him about $73,000. He spoke out last week, saying the Browns should’ve been fined for putting McCoy back in the game with a concussion. He’s probably not going to be in the holiday spirit this game.

3. Should the Browns risk McCoy so soon after the concussion — especially with the NFLPA still trying to decide whether or not to file a grievance against the Browns? A source said the union should make its decision the first week of January.

4. With nothing at stake for the Browns, should they just let McCoy rest and also avoid the second-guessing it will invite if he plays?

5. The Browns have said they’ve seen enough of McCoy to make a decision on whether or not he can be their quarterback of the future. If that’s the case, why play him?

6. Will one more game with Seneca Wallace help the Browns determine if the offensive woes this season can be attributed to a lack of playmakers and not so much the quarterback?

7. Has Wallace moved the offense well enough the past two games to earn him another start? He’s 0-2 in his two starts with an average of 12 points a game.

Wallace reiterated Monday what he said after the 20-17 overtime loss in Arizona on Dec. 18: the job should be McCoy’s if he’s healthy.

“Like I said before, I would’ve loved to have been able to try to help this team out longer … but coaches made the decision at the beginning of the season to have Colt as the starter,” said Wallace. “If he’s healthy enough, I feel like he should come back and finish the season like he did.

“If I was the leader of this team at the beginning of the season and got knocked out and had a chance to come back and play, I’d want to finish the season out.”

How much would Wallace like to bounce back from the Ravens loss?

“I’m excited regardless,” he said. “I don’t care who it is, if it’s Pittsburgh or the St. Louis Rams. You’re playing football. We can go out and compete another time. That’s the opportunity we love to go out and play football.”

Wallace is coming off a 20-14 loss to the Ravens in which the offense scored just seven points. He completed 19 of 33 attempts for 147 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He made two crucial mistakes: an interception on the opening drive and letting the first-half clock run out deep in Ravens territory without getting at least a field-goal attempt.

As for the interception, Shurmur said, “there was a little bit of heat inside. Seneca flushed to his right. We have to make sure we’re smart with the football. I have to do a better job of getting protection where he doesn’t get heat up the middle. I’ll take responsibility for that. But we can’t turn the ball over there.”

Shurmur said he needs to do a better job of communicating to Wallace to get the ball spiked at the end of the half. But Wallace took responsibility.

“It’s not all [Shurmur's] fault,” he said. “If you’re a man, you’ve got to take responsibility for what you do on the field. … He’s going to try to back us because he’s the head coach. But at the end of the day, we get on the field and we’re playing between those lines, we’ve got to take responsibility for what we do out there.

“So yeah, it was a communication error, but at the same time, it’s not 100 percent his fault.”

What injury? Browns linebacker Kaluka Maiava suffered a broken left hand on the opening kickoff of the second half in Baltimore. But he’ll play with a cast Sunday. He said he broke a little piece of his index finger and that it won’t require surgery.

It won’t be the first time he’s dealt with this kind of injury.

“I told the doctor I think I’ve been playing with a cast on my hand since my junior year in high school,” he said. “Every year I had something on my hand.”

Extra points: Shurmur said he’ll ask the NFL for clarification on why Evan Moore wasn’t ruled out of bounds on the second-to-last play of the first half. Moore was told he needed to take a step forward out of bounds. Shurmur seems to think he was out. … Pro Bowl teams will be announced Tuesday, and Shurmur said several Browns are deserving. He declined to say who. … Remember, the Steelers game has been moved from 1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Sunday as a result of flex scheduling.

On Twitter: @marykaycabot

“John Nash, everyone,” Fujita said with a laugh and comparing Dawson to the famed mathematician and subject of the film “A Beautiful Mind.”

Well, Dawson’s IQ isn’t quite at genius level, and he’ll never replicate Nash’s work on game theory, but he does have vast knowledge on kicking field goals.

Lately, he’s learned how difficult they can be to judge.

Because for all the technological advancements that have made NFL games safer and more enjoyable: from improved helmets to the computer-generated yellow line that allows TV viewers to see if it’s a first down and instant-replay systems designed to ensure officials make calls correctly, ruling on field goals remains an inexact science.

In fact, there’s no more science behind it at all than two sets of human eyes under the goalpost — and they can be fooled.

“It’s a rough spot for officials, to stand under the goalposts, look straight up and discern if any part of a ball is outside the uprights,” Dawson said. “I know it’s not easy.”

And it’s not the kicks that miss by a few feet, or even inches, that are difficult to assess. It’s the ones that fly directly above the 30-foot-high uprights that are trickiest and a few recent ones have caused a small outcry — mostly by kickers, the game’s most exacting players — for the league to adopt a better way to rule on field goals.

“There’s a lot of confusion and it just seems like there’s technology out there that would make it a lot easier,” said Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, who recalled kicks at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field being blown around so much that no one on the field could tell if they were good..

Ask any kicker and he’ll suggest a remedy for the problem: Raise the uprights. Mount cameras on the crossbar. Implant a computer chip inside the ball. Shoot lasers above the uprights. Add another official designated for field goals.

Washington Redskins special teams coach Danny Smith said he’s tried to address the issue with the NFL office for years. Smith feels he has a solution — or two.

“Why don’t you do it like tennis?” Smith said. “Why don’t you laser it? Or extend them? It’s ridiculous they don’t do that. Do it like tennis with the laser in there. Is it good or is it not? Check it and go. We’d do it with the replay machine. It would be easy. Let’s just be fair. It’s easy.”

League spokesman Greg Aiello said the current system is sound, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

“We have one official under each upright with the perfect view for judging field goals and their calls on field goals have not been much of an issue historically,” Aiello said. “But the Competition Committee always looks for ways to improve the game so we would not rule out anything.”

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Some pregame scribbles before kickoff between the Browns and Bengals.

1. This game probably won’t mean much in terms of the standings. If the Browns win, they are 5-6. If the Bengals win, they are 7-4. But the game will have an impact on the fans’ state of mind.

2. If the Browns win, there will be a sense of progress. They finally beat a team with a winning record. They beat a team in the AFC North. And they beat the Bengals.

3. The Bengals were 6-2 before losing their last two games to Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Bengals’ success really annoys many Browns fans. They have a rookie quarterback. They were coming off a 4-12 season. Yes, they drafted A.J. Green, but weren’t they supposed to be rebuilding or something?

4. Then came the 27-17 loss to the Bengals in the home opener. Most Browns fans remember that was the game where the defense fell asleep and no one called time out as Green caught a 41-yard touchdown pass.

5. But Cedric Benson also was busting loose for a 39-yard touchdown run with 1:49 left. Not only did the Browns look disorganized on defense, they were flagged for 11 penalties. It was a nightmare of an opener for rookie coach Pat Shurmur.

6. That TD run by Benson was the longest of the season against the Browns. The 11 penalties is their single-game high. Only Tennessee (31) and Houston (27) scored more points on the Browns — who have held the opposition under 20 points in five games this season.

7. Have the Browns improved from that day? Can they win their second game on the road? If the Bengals lose this game, they will be 6-5 and on a 3-game losing streak. There will be a sense in Cincinnati that the 6-2 start was fools’ gold, that even the Browns have beat them.

8. The Bengals have defeated the same four teams as the Browns — Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Miami and Seattle. The difference is the Bengals beat Tennessee (which hammered the Browns, 31-13) and they beat those guys in the orange helmets.

9. For Shurmur and his players, it will be a huge confidence boost to beat a team in the AFC North — especially with four games remaining against Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Bengals have the No. 6-rated defense, No. 3 against the run. If Peyton Hillis and/or Montario Hardesty stay healthy, can the Browns actually run the ball? Can Colt McCoy keep making progress, as he has the last two games? I’m curious to see it.

10. In the last two games, Andy Dalton has been picked off five times — compared to three touchdowns. Baltimore and Pittsburgh will do that to a young quarterback. Can the Browns put some heat on him? This really does have a chance to be an interesting.

Browns cornerback Joe Haden is looking forward to his rematch with Bengals receiver A.J. Green.

In the season opener, Haden held the standout rookie to no catches . . . until the Bengals caught the Browns napping late in the game. Bengals QB Bruce Gradkowski called for a quick snap and hit Green for an easy 41-yard go-ahead touchdown.

Green has 41 receptions and six TDs this season despite missing the Bengals’ game against Baltimore last Sunday and the second half against Pittsburgh the week before with a knee injury. Green leads NFL rookies with 635 receiving yards and is second among rookies in receptions, trailing only the Browns’ Greg Little (42).

“I look forward to [playing against Green] a lot,” Haden said. “He’s one of the best receivers we have in the division. He’s gotten better as [rookie quarterback Andy] Dalton‘s gotten more mature. They have a good connection. He goes to him a lot. It just seems to be working really well with those guys.”

Haden, who faced Green twice in college, broke up five passes and had a near-interception in their first meeting.

“We had a lot of time to study them,” said Haden. “We were on top of our game.”

Haden said it might be tougher this time around.

“He’s a deep threat and he has really good speed,” Haden said. “He can jump and he’s an all-around really good receiver. It will definitely be a challenge to cover him. It should be a good matchup.”

Browns defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, head of the league’s No. 1 pass defense, knows Green has improved since Week 1.

“A.J. Green is a phenomenal young talent,” he said. “He’s playing really well. You can see the things that he can do down the field, he goes up, he’s a big target, he runs well, runs good routes, has good hands. He’s a tough, tough guy. He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long time. He’s going to be a tough matchup for whoever’s on him. I just hope whoever’s on him is up to that challenge.”

Haden has broken up 16 passes this season, but last week dropped two potential interceptions and has yet to pick one off this season.

“It means I’m around the ball a lot, but I should catch some of them,” Haden said. “I’ll try to work on that.”

Pashos absent: Right tackle Tony Pashos was absent from practice Friday because his wife was in labor with their first baby. Coach Pat Shurmur said he expects Pashos to play Sunday. Artis Hicks worked in Pashos’ place.

Mitchell idle: Defensive end Jayme Mitchell has missed two straight days with and ankle injury and is questionable for Sunday. In case he can’t play, the Browns promoted defensive lineman Kiante Tripp from the practice squad. To make room, the team waived running back Thomas Clayton.

Tripp spent training camp this season with the Falcons after signing as an undrafted free agent July 27 out of Georgia. The Falcons waived him Sept. 2 and he has spent the past seven weeks on the Browns’ practice squad.

Mitchell lost his starting job last week to Emmanuel Stephens, who has had four tackles each of the past four games.

Shurmur said he wasn’t surprised to learn Mitchell told reporters he wasn’t happy about his demotion.

“I would expect him to not be happy about that,” he said. “I spoke to him twice [Friday] and we spoke [Thursday] so we’re just working our way through that.”

Marecic questionable: Fullback Owen Marecic (concussion) is questionable, though Shurmur said he has a chance to play despite missing practice all week.

Helmet-flying, bottles-walloping, snap-deflecting, depths-plumbing — the Browns have done it all when it comes to losing.

They have lost 128 times in 12 full seasons since their return, or an average of more than 10 games per year. They are, as of this moment in time, 3-6 this year and 67-134 overall since 1999. Their winning percentage is .333.

Poor talent evaluation through many regimes is the biggest reason why. It is, however, inaccurate to say the cupboard was bare. It has been filled instead with cream pies and banana peels.

The Browns’ 10 Most Unbelievable Losses Since 1999 (With Two of Them This Season):

1. The Helmet Game — It is unassailable as the top entry, unmatchable in idiocy, unthinkable in execution. Dwayne Rudd’s celebratory helmet toss after he almost — but, oops, not quite — sacked Trent Green on the game’s last play, led to 315-pound lineman John Tait’s long ramble with Green’s lateral, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Rudd, and a Morten Andersen field goal on a final, untimed play that gave the Chiefs a 40-39 victory in 2002.

2. It’s not over until it’s over — In 2001, the Browns’ sideline was a lovefest in Chicago, with new coach Butch Davis hugging players and equipment men high-fiving as they wheeled trunks to the apparent victors’ locker room. That would have been the Bears, unfortunately. Someone named Shane Matthews threw two touchdown passes in the last 28 seconds around a recovered onside kick to force overtime. The second TD was on a Hail Mary pass off a tipped ball. A pick-six off a tipped Tim Couch pass in OT won it, 27-21.

3. It’s not over even when it’s over, part two – Shades of Ruddgate! After the Browns committed pass interference on a Hail Mary play on the last snap, Detroit got another play on an untimed down in 2009. Quarterback Matthew Stafford had been hurt on the desperation heave, with his arm looking like it had been extruded from a pasta machine. But he used the timeout the Browns stupidly called after the penalty to recover well enough to send backup Daunte Culpepper off the field and throw his fifth touchdown pass. With the PAT, the Lions won, 38-37.

4. Bottlegate — Displeasure at an overturned fourth-down conversion in the red zone in the final minute on replay led to a long delay, while beer bottles, hurled by angry fans, decorated the turf. Had Quincy Morgan either (a) caught the ball or (b) not preened and made the “first down” arm signal, the Browns would have either (a) converted or (b) got the next play off before the replay official intervened. The Jaguars won, 15-10, in 2001. Post-game discussion was enlivened by the assertion of Carmen Policy, the Browns’ president, that “those bottles are plastic. They don’t pack much of a wallop.”

5. Three-Ball, side pocket — If you were scoring at home last Sunday, it went from long snapper Ryan Pontbriand, to the right foot of Alex Mack, to holder Brad Maynard, to Phil Dawson’s instep, to wide left. The missed chip-shot field-goal attempt allowed the Rams to win, 13-12.

6. The Northcutt is the Deepest — In the Browns’ only playoff appearance since their return, they lost, 36-33, in early 2003 after leading the host Steelers, 24-7, with 3 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Davis ordered a prevent defense, defensive coordinator Foge Fazio challenged Davis to a fist fight then and there (not really, but he should have), and Dennis Northcutt dropped a third-down conversion right in the breadbasket from Kelly Holcomb. It would have let the Browns run out the clock.

7. The “Bluto” Game — In his second game as a Brown in 2004, new quarterback Jeff Garcia completed eight of 27 passes for a quarterback rating equal to the GPA of any member of the Delta House in “Animal House,” including future Senator John Blutarsky — 0.0. After suffering a safety with eight seconds to play, the Browns tried an onside kick from their own 20, on which Kellen Winslow Jr. broke his leg. The Cowboys won, 19-12.

8. Second Down, Second Chance – Todd Peterson’s field goal with 7:46 remaining in overtime came one play after Alvin McKinley blocked his 24-yard attempt. But because it was only second down and Pittsburgh’s John Fiala fell on the bouncing football — which never crossed the line of scrimmage — the Steelers retained possession. Peterson’s third-down kick gave them a 16-13 victory.

9. Time to panic? – Holcomb threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns, and the Browns put up 48 points. Alas, Cincinnati put up 58. Davis resigned after the game in 2004, saying he had suffered a panic attack beforehand. Perhaps it was triggered by reflection upon his draft picks.

10. The Siesta Snap – Backup Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski caught the Browns asleep on a snap with 14 seconds left on the play clock and 41/2 minutes left in the game in this year’s opener. The 41-yard TD gave the Bengals a 20-17 lead that they increased to 27-17. Browns coach Pat Shurmur charged the Bengals with illegal substitution on the play. It had all the substance of Policy’s view of half-empty plastic bottles.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns’ trophy collection isn’t especially impressive this season.

A 3-5 Browns record is what it is. But the quality of the three wins, well….Cleveland has wins over the NFL’s only winless team (Indianaplis Colts), over a one-win team (Miami Dolphins) and a two-win team (Seattle Seahawks).

But, opportunity knocks. Looking ahead just a bit, the Browns could get to .500 by winning their next two games: against the St. Louis Rams, who are 1-7, on Sunday, and against the 2-6 Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 20. Both games will be at Browns Stadium.

First, the Browns game against the Rams on Sunday. St. Louis was 7-9 last season with Pat Shurmur as its offensive coordinator. Shurmur, of course, is in his first season as the Browns’ head coach.

The Rams’ game results this season, in order: 31-13 loss to Philadelphia; 28-16 loss at the New York Giants; 37-7 loss to Baltimore; 17-10 loss to Washington; 24-3 loss at Green Bay; 34-7 loss at Dallas; 31-21 win vs. New Orleans; 19-13 loss (overtime) at Arizona.

The Browns’ results: 27-17 loss to Cincinnati; 27-19 win at Indianapolis; 17-16 win vs. Miami; 31-13 loss to Tennessee; 24-17 loss at Oakland; 6-3 win vs. Seattle; 20-10 loss at San Francisco; 30-12 loss at Houston.

Cleveland’s history with the Rams goes back to before the Browns existed. The Rams’ franchise began in Cleveland in 1937, and continued here through 1945. The Cleveland Rams played their last game before moving to Los Angeles on Dec. 16, 1945, and it was for the NFL championship. The Rams defeated the Washington Redskins, 15-14, before 32,178 fans who braved sub-zero temperatures at Cleveland Stadium.

The Browns were born in 1946, and after winning all four championship games in All-America Football Conference history (1946-49), joined the NFL in 1950. Ironically, Cleveland won the 1950 NFL championship by defeating the Rams, 30-28, at Cleveland Stadium. In 1951, the Browns lost the NFL title game to the Rams, 24-17, at Los Angeles. Then, in 1955, Cleveland captured the league title with a 38-14 rout of the Rams in LA, in quarterback Otto Graham’s final game.

Click on to the games in the paragraph above to read The Plain Dealer’s game stories. They are included in cleveland.com’s Browns History Database, which includes Plain Dealer game stories on every regular season and playoff game in Browns history through 2010.

The Browns and Rams have played 18 regular season games, with a 9-9 split. The teams have met just three times since the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season, the Rams winning twice.

The last game between the teams was on Oct. 28, 2007, when Cleveland won at St. Louis, 27-20, making the Browns 4-3 and the Rams 0-8. Tony Grossi wrote The Plain Dealer’s game story. Browns quarterback Derek Anderson completed 18 of 25 passes for three touchdowns with no interceptions. Braylon Edwards caught eight passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns and Joe Jurevicius had five catches for 76 yards.

Cleveland Browns host the St. Louis Rams: Who will win and by how much?

RENTON — The Mike Holmgren who serves as president of the Cleveland Browns is different than the Mike Holmgren who spent 17 years as a head coach, including 10 seasons guiding the Seattle Seahawks.

He is calmer now, he insists, better equipped to handle a disappointing result from time to time. All it took for Holmgren to mellow was some time away from the sidelines, as well as a stern talking to from his wife, Kathy.

Following the Browns’ season opening loss this year, Holmgren recalled on a conference call with Seattle reporters, he was “Kind of a jerk,” while out for dinner with Kathy and some friends. After blowing off some more steam the following Monday, Holmgren came home and heard it from his wife.

Kathy’s message: “If you wanted to be that big of a jerk, get back into coaching. … Do you want to be that angry all the time? Do you want to be that frustrated?”

Holmgren, who was best known in Seattle for making the Seahawks a perennial playoff team and leading the franchise to its only Super Bowl, but also known for his fiery sideline demeanor, realized his wife was right.

“You know what, I don’t (want to be angry and frustrated),” he told himself. “I’m 63 years old, I’m enjoying what I’m doing, I want to build this up again to be something special. I said, ‘You’re right, I don’t want to be like that.’ It was an epiphany of sorts.”

And as Holmgren’s new team prepares to host his old one this weekend, it’s perhaps fitting that both his demeanor and his role in Cleveland are different, because so, too, is the Seahawks team he’ll see on Sunday.

Holmgren admitted that it will be emotional to see “players that went to the trenches for you,” but the thing is, there aren’t too many of those players left on Seattle’s roster. Of the 53 players currently on the active roster, just seven played for Holmgren: receiver Ben Obomanu, running back Justin Forsett, defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, defensive end Red Bryant, linebacker Leroy Hill, linebacker David Hawthorne and punter Jon Ryan.

“The fewer number of players that there are, yeah, I think it will take away from the emotions just a little bit,” Holmgren said.

Those few remaining Seahawks who did play for Holmgren say it will be a special moment when they see their former coach.

Like Seahawks fans, players can appreciate what he did for the team. When Holmgren was hired away from Green Bay in 1999, the Seahawks hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1988, and hadn’t won a playoff game since the 1984 season. Under Holmgren, the Seahawks made the playoffs six times in 10 seasons, won four consecutive division titles and made their only Super Bowl appearance.

“He changed the face of this franchise,” said linebacker Leroy Hill, who played four seasons under Holmgren and was a rookie on the Super Bowl XL team. “I think people will always remember that.”

Holmgren’s former players are thankful for the coach who gave them a chance in the NFL, and hope to pass that message along this weekend. They also will have a hard time believing that the man who not too long ago intimidated professional athletes with simple stare could possibly have mellowed.

“I can’t imagine it at all,” Obomanu said with a chuckle. “On game days, when a play went wrong, he would turn around and nobody wanted to be in his eyesight, because you didn’t want to be the one to get yelled at first. So, I can’t imagine him being a front office guy upstairs, seeing things not going the way he wants, and turn around have nobody there to fuss at.”

After leaving Seattle following the 2008 season, Holmgren took a year off. When Seattle was looking for a new president after Tod Leiweke left for a job in the NHL, Holmgren was a candidate for that job, but ultimately he chose to go Cleveland where he would have total authority over the franchise. He and Kathy have made Cleveland their home, but they still have family in the Seattle area, and see themselves back here someday.

For now, however, Holmgren’s focus is on doing in Cleveland what he did in Seattle — turning a struggling franchise into a Super Bowl caliber team.

Holmgren said he doesn’t plan on coaching again. He did consider taking over as Cleveland’s coach last season before hiring Pat Shurmur to replace the fired Eric Mangini. And staying out of coaching will probably sit just fine with his wife after his dinner performance following that Week 1 loss.

Instead, the calmer, less fiery Holmgren will try to make the Browns a winning franchise while staying off the sideline.

“I want to help,” he said. “I want to be there for Pat Shurmur. I don’t want to be the guy banging on the table all the time anymore. I did that for a number of years in coaching — and it’s part of what you have to do to get everyone’s attention — but now my role is different. That’s how I’m approaching it.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog

When the Cincinnati Bengals rushed to the line and quickly snapped the ball on Sunday for a 41-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, Cleveland’s seasoned defensive coordinator — and former head coach in Chicago and Buffalo — had his head down, looking at his play sheet.

“I have to pick it up,” Jauron said Thursday. “I have to see it and I didn’t see it. I missed it.”

Jauron accepted blame for the Browns’ blunder on Sunday, when Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski alertly hurried his team to the line, took the snap and lofted a game-winning touchdown pass to rookie A.J. Green, a memorable game-changing play in Cincinnati’s 27-17 win over Cleveland.

Jauron didn’t offer any excuses. The Bengals executed, and he and the Browns failed to stop them.

“When the offense is ready to snap the ball, we’ve got to be ready to play defense,” he said. “That’s my responsibility and I didn’t get it done on that play.”

The Browns were waiting for linebacker D’Qwell Jackson to call the play when the Bengals made the snap. Cornerback Joe Haden scampered to get into position, but by the time he recovered, Green had darted off the line and soon hauled in Gradkowski’s pass for his only reception and first career score — one that will haunt the Browns.

“To have that happen to you is hugely disappointing to everybody, to us and to our players and to our fans,” Jauron said. “It’s one of those things that clearly you don’t expect, and when it happened, you probably will never forget it.”

To make sure it never happens again, Cleveland’s cornerbacks will not join the huddle, Jauron said. Hand signals will be sent in from the sideline.

“That’s one thing you can do and that’ll help us clearly,” said Jauron, in his 27th season as a coach in the league. “We just have got to be aware. After making the call, I was looking down at my gameplan sheet, thinking about the next call. I missed it. There’s nothing else I can say about it. I should have been able to help.”

Following the game, Browns coach Pat Shurmur wasn’t convinced the Bengals didn’t get away with something. However, the league determined that Cincinnati did not violate the substitution rule and the play was legal.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CLEVELAND — Browns coach Pat Shurmur said it’s his understanding that the Bengals illegally quick-snapped the ball on the play that resulted in the 41-yard gamewinning TD pass to A.J. Green.

“My understanding is when the offense changes personnel, the defense is allowed to do so as well and have time to do it. I’m going to go back and watch the tape, but we’ll all see if that actually happened.”

Backup quarterback Bruce Gradkoswki launched a 41-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to a wide-open Green, who hadn’t made a catch all afternoon. The score put the Bengals up 20-17 en route to their 27-17 victory.

“We weren’t ready,” said Haden, who tried to chase the long-gone Green. “Everybody was scrambling. We were in the huddle trying to get the play and we didn’t realize Cincinnati was already lined up. We were waiting on the call and we heard everybody screaming.

“It wasn’t a good look for us. We were just scrambling around. They caught us off guard. We had, I don’t know, like a different amount of players. It was just real confusing.”

The play happened in the midst of monster game by Haden, who was the Sultan of Swat in the game, knocking down five passes before the ugly chaos.’

“Coach told me to go out and dominate and that’s what I was trying to do,”’ said Haden.

Said Cedric Benson of the play: “The play was designed to catch them napping and we caught then napping.”

Said Green, the Bengals’ first-round pick: ”It was one of the slowest balls I’ve ever seen to come down. I was like ‘come on, get down to my hands.”’

PUNTER WOES: Richmond McGee, who headed to the X-ray room after the game for an unspecified reason, did not have a good NFL debut. He had punts of 20, 30 and 28 yards. “The first one, I was just trying to kick it too hard to help the team,” he said. “It was a disappointing performance.”

LAUVAO CONTRITE: First-time starting right guard Shaun Lauvao felt bad about his two false-start penalties in the first quarter. “I’ll work harder to make sure those don’t happen again,” he said.

CRIBBS ADVISES LITTLE: Josh Cribbs had a little advice for rookie Greg Little after he blocked the punter into Cribbs when he was breaking a punt return in the fourth quarter. “Wow,  I saw the TD,” said Cribbs. ” I really don’t look at the punter. I just try to look past him. It was a great block by Greg, he just knocked him and me out. I was seeing double. I was like ‘oh my God, he hit hit me!’ Because it was just so wide open. I was already like, ‘yea, we won this, we go this. Greg made a good block and I told him on the kickoffs, just hold him and put your arm up and say just ‘start running, it’s touchdown.’ It was a great effort on his part. Just unfortunate.”  

CLEVELAND — Bruce Gradkowski looked up field and couldn’t believe his eyes. There was nothing, just green grass and rookie receiver A.J. Green.

With a sudden snap, the Bengals had fooled Cleveland’s defense, leaving them flat-footed and out of position. Now, it was up to Cincinnati’s backup quarterback to complete the sneaky trick.

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding me’,” Gradkowski said.

The Browns were just as shocked.

Gradkowski caught Cleveland’s defense still in the huddle and quickly lobbed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Green in the fourth quarter, giving the whatever-it-takes Bengals a stunning 27-17 win Sunday over the Browns to spoil a sloppy debut in Cleveland’s first game under coach Pat Shurmur.

“The play is designed to catch them napping,” said Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who put the Browns away with a 39-yard TD run in the final minutes. “We caught them napping.”

Green, who hadn’t caught a pass all game, was left uncovered by the Browns, who were still huddled up when the Bengals lined up.

After taking the shotgun snap, Gradkowski, on in relief of injured rookie starter Andy Dalton, looked toward a wide-open Green streaking down the right side.

Green felt as if he was dreaming.

“I thought, ‘Ball, please get down and into my hands,’” the speedy first-round pick said. “It’s one of the slowest balls I’ve ever seen. It was one of the toughest catches I’ve ever had because I had so long to think about it. It took forever to get to me.”

Green hauled it in and sprinted untouched into the end zone to shock the Browns and their fans. Cleveland fell to 1-12 in season openers since 1999.

Shurmur isn’t convinced what the Bengals did was legal.

“They quick snapped us,” Shurmur said. “I’ll have to watch the tape, but it’s my understanding they changed personnel, lined up and then quick snapped. There’s rules that go along with that, so we’ll see. My understanding is when the offense changes personnel, the defense is allowed to do so as well and have time to do it.”

The play was equally surprising for the Bengals, who jumped in celebration at the improbable TD. This was the kind of play that usually happens to them.

“We just got lucky,” said center Kyle Cook. “I think they knew they screwed up. We just called it at the right time.”

Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown thought the Bengals got away with one.

“We were still in the defensive huddle when they snapped the ball,” he said. “It happened so fast, all I know there was a lot of people running wide open down the field.”

Colt McCoy threw two TD passes for the Browns, who were disorganized for much of Shurmur’s first game. Cleveland committed 11 penalties – 10 in the first half – but the Browns’ biggest offense was not being ready while protecting a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter.

Cornerback Joe Haden, who had kept Green without a catch for more than 50 minutes and batted away five passes, was out of position and couldn’t catch Green.

“We weren’t ready,” Haden said. “Everybody was scrambling. Everybody was standing in the middle looking at D’Qwell (Jackson) trying to figure out what the call was. We never got one and when we heard everybody screaming, they were already lined up and we just started running.”

Benson, who recently served jail time on an assault charge, finished with 121 yards on 25 carries. Mike Nugent kicked field goals of 24 and 47 yards for Cincinnati.

Considered by some to be the NFL’s worst team, and with veteran quarterback Carson Palmer sitting out in a standoff with ownership, the Bengals somehow won their first opener since 2007. And they did it with Gradkowski, their third-string QB, who pulled one over on the Browns.

“Every once in a while you lose a game that makes you feel sick to your stomach,” Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said. “This is definitely one of those games.”

Dalton was hit by Browns rookie defensive tackle Phil Taylor on Cincinnati’s final offensive play in the first half. Dalton, trying to become only the fifth rookie since 1970 to win his debut on the road, finished 10 of 15 for 81 yards. He hopes to play next week at Denver.

Shurmur’s first quarter as a head coach couldn’t have gone much worse as the Browns were called for six penalties, gained 3 yards rushing and were badly outplayed.

Afterward, a red-faced Shurmur didn’t hold back when assessing his team’s disappointing outing.

“A season full of mistakes in the first quarter,” Shurmur said. “No excuses. I don’t care if you’re a rookie. I don’t care if you’ve been in this thing for 12 years, and I care if this is your last game. You can’t make mistakes.”

Brown didn’t offer any excuses, but felt the officiating was one-sided. Cincinnati was only whistled for three infractions.

“It’s kind of frustrating, but in my eyes some of those calls are questionable,” he said. “The biggest thing is do not let this game trickle over into a whole season. That would be the most frustrating thing.”

Notes: Players and coaches on both sidelines helped hold the giant American flag that covered the entire field during a stirring pregame tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. … Jackson had 11 tackles, two sacks and forced a fumble for the Browns. … Cincinnati leads the series 40-36. … The Bengals improved to 20-24 in openers, 7-13 on the road. … Browns punter Richmond McGee averaged 36 yards on eight punts, a poor debut that could lead to changes.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — For fans, this was more than a 27-17 loss to Cincinnati in the Browns’ season opener.

This was annoying. This was disorganization. This was a real stinker.

And the punting was lousy, too.

Even worse, it didn’t have to be this way. If you watched this game, you have every right to scream, “There’s no excuse for this!” The Browns had 11 penalties, two poor punts under little pressure and an offense that suddenly stalled when it meant the most.

Coach Pat Shurmur was even flagged for knocking over an official. He didn’t mean it, but he did … and it was a penalty. Just as rookie Greg Little didn’t mean to “nail a guy who bounced into Josh [Cribbs],” according to Shurmur. That cost Cribbs what could have been a long return in the fourth quarter.

But none of that was the turning point. I kept asking myself, “Exactly how did the Browns lose this game?”

I saw it. I saw it over and over. I saw Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green line up wide right. I saw the Browns in what must be their new GMA defense — General Milling Around. It’s 11 guys sort of standing near the middle of the field with no discernible purpose, other than perhaps waiting for someone to bring out the water.

Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was in because starter Andy Dalton was knocked out with a wrist injury at the end of the first half. With the Browns leading, 17-13, in the fourth quarter, Gradkowski quickly brought the Bengals to the line of scrimmage. He noticed Green was being treated by the Browns secondary as if he had dragon breath. No one was within 15 yards of him.

So Gradkowski threw the ball to Green, who was wide open and jogged into the end zone.

After the game, Shurmur said he thought the Bengals had brought in some substitutions. If they did, the Bengals were not allowed to do a quick snap — as the Browns are also to be given time to bring in new players.

But there was no flag, and the play counted. Bengals 20, Browns 17.

Even if the Bengals did get away with some trickery, the Browns blew coverage on a screen pass that went for 22 yards. The catch and run by the Bengals’ Brian Leonard set up that toss to Green.

But there was 4:31 left. The Browns were at home, and getting the ball. They had the ball not one, not two, but three times before the end of the game. What did those three possessions yield? Two first downs. In 12 plays, they gained 25 yards and never threatened. The Browns also allowed Cedric Benson to bolt for a 39 yards for a touchdown with 1:49 left.

All of this negated two terrific touchdown passes by McCoy, one to Ben Watson, the other to Evan Moore. There was a nice 51-yard pass to Mohamed Massaquoi after a McCoy scrambled. But the pass protection was iffy. The running game was a yawner, 83 yards in 26 carries. Peyton Hillis had only 57 yards in 17 carries. The offensive line had big problems.

A scarlet-faced, tough-talking Shurmur vowed he wouldn’t tolerate so many mistakes. He correctly said the team made “a season full of mistakes in the first quarter.” They came back from a 13-0 deficit to lead 14-13 at the half. It was 17-13 in the third quarter, and then the Browns didn’t just lose — they fell apart.

They have no one to blame but themselves.

BEREA, Ohio — If an NFL player’s biggest improvement occurs from his first season to his second, then what can we expect from Browns cornerback Joe Haden in Year Two?

He led the Browns with six interceptions as a rookie, despite coming off the bench his first nine games and running down on punts.

Pressed for his expectations, Haden mentions the Pro Bowl and “double-digit” interceptions as reasonable individual goals.

“My goal is to be the best corner I can be, one of the top five corners in the league, a lock ‘em down-type corner,” Haden said.

Teammate Sheldon Brown takes a more global view. Brown, entering his 10th NFL season, has been a positive influence on Haden. He sees Haden expanding his game in ways that statistics don’t measure.

“He’s turned into a good pro,” Brown said. “On and off the field. Obviously, we know what he can do on the football field. But the little things, the intangibles — studying, carrying himself well, respecting the game, respecting the others that played before us. He’s doing all of that.

“He’ll be playing this game for a while.”

As Haden prepares to kick off his second season Sunday with an intriguing matchup against Cincinnati rookie receiver A.J. Green, his ever-present smile is wide and vibrant. Only 22 — 15 months younger than Green — Haden carries himself now like a player who knows what he didn’t know a year ago.

“It’s not even a comparison how I feel going into this year compared to last year,” Haden said. “It’s not about the stress [of being a rookie]. It’s about feeling more comfortable, understanding the game, knowing how to study film, understanding the concepts of routes.

“Last year I was fresh out of college. You don’t really understand the receivers and quarterbacks, how they like to throw the ball. It’s like night and day.”

The Haden vs. Green matchup should be a scintillating game-within-the-game on Sunday, reminiscent of past Browns-Bengals skirmishes such as Hanford Dixon-Chris Collinsworth in the 1980s and Leigh Bodden-Chad Johnson of recent vintage.

Haden played from 2007 to’09 at Florida, Green from 2008 to’10 at Georgia. Haden was the NFL’s seventh overall draft choice in 2010, Green the fourth overall this year.

Haden said Green was one of the two best receivers he played against in college. The other he battled at practice — Florida teammate Percy Harvin. Green is 6-4, Haden 5-11.

“He’s just big, tall, and not only does he have speed, but being so tall, he can still come out of his breaks really well,” Haden said.

Although the Browns have never said it, few believe they would have passed on Green if he had fallen to their sixth position in the draft.

“He was a receiver that I thought was pretty refined coming out of college,” said Browns coach Pat Shurmur. “He’s got size, he can run and he can catch. So he had, in our opinion, what you need to have, skill- and ability-wise, to have success. He’s already showing up as a guy who’s going to be a playmaker for Cincinnati.”

Green poses such a potential threat that you wonder why Haden wouldn’t be assigned exclusively to cover him wherever Green goes on the field. That would be against convention. Most teams assign their cornerbacks to either the left side or the right side of the field, no matter the opponent.

That’s certainly the way it was under coach Eric Mangini, who was burned by this unbending approach when quarterbacks repeatedly picked on Eric Wright last season.

But there is a hint of openness in the new Browns coaches to exploiting Haden’s coverage skills by matching him against the opponent’s best receiver.

Asked if Haden would match Green the entire game, defensive coordinator Dick Jauron coyly demurred, “I wouldn’t think there’s a good reason to answer that.”

The fresh possibilities of Jauron’s defensive scheme is another reason Haden is so excited about his second season. He already senses more trust from Jauron to allow his cornerbacks to play more man-to-man coverage.

“This year it’s a lot of one-on-one, bump-and-run, man-to-man coverage,” Haden said. “I like the man-to-man. I like that he has a whole lot of confidence in the corners to play outside by themselves. I like being able to prove myself. If I get beat, it’s on me. That’s my man.”

In Cincinnati, Green is the single reason nobody is lamenting the breakup of the T. Ocho Show — diva receivers Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. The Bengals’ own weekly game release unequivocally states of Green, “No Bengals first-rounder in recent memory has been so widely considered a cinch to not only start as a rookie, but to stand out.”

Haden relishes the opportunity to teach the rook a thing or two in his first NFL game.

“When I was there, I was really, really nervous,” Haden said. “Preseason, you think you’re getting a feel for it. But when that first game comes, it’s a whole lot different.”

Yes, Haden knows now what he didn’t know then.

Check here and here for a complete list of the Cleveland Browns’ roster moves.

Surprise moves: I may be on an island with this one, but I thought offensive tackle Branndon Braxton had a chance to make the team. Braxton is raw, but the Browns are thin on the offensive line. They could have taken on a project. Braxton has good size and decent feet.

Cleveland also released third-string quarterback Jarrett Brown. He had the strongest arm on the team and showed flashes. The Browns are hoping to get him back on the practice squad.

Terminating the contract of Demetrius Williams was a mild surprise. The former Baltimore Raven is experienced and made a few plays in camp. But it wasn’t enough to take playing time away from youngsters like rookie receiver Greg Little.

No-brainers: Cornerback Coye Francies is a 2009 draft pick under former coach Eric Mangini who barely hung onto a roster spot for two years. But with the coaching change, you had the sense Francies’ days were numbered. He was released.

There was only one tailback spot open behind Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty. Armond Smith beat out Quinn Porter in a close race that came down to the final preseason game.

Tailback Brandon Jackson (toe) also was put on injured reserve. Jackson, a free-agent pickup from the Green Bay Packers, will be out for the season.

What’s next: The Browns will scan the waiver wires in search of depth. The preseason proved depth is desperately needed at several positions, particularly on the offensive line. Cleveland’s backups have been thoroughly outplayed in exhibition games. This team isn’t built to sustain many injuries.