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12/9/05

Forgotten men: Suggs, Green wait in shadows
Friday, December 9, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER


BEREA - It has been a very cold December, but for two Browns with warm Cincinnati memories, the freeze set in a good while ago.
Running backs Lee Suggs and William Green are living through the coldest year of their careers.
“You can’t get upset. You can’t get all (ticked) off about it,” Suggs said. “It doesn’t help anything.”
Suggs was dressing for Thursday’s practice, conducted in a fieldhouse with all the big doors open and the blue-knuckle weather blowing in. Green dressed next to Suggs.
“It’s not like high school ... a thing where you can say, ‘I’m unhappy,’ or this that and the fourth,” Green said. “Whether it’s playing in the game, or getting practice reps with the offense, or playing special teams ... this is how I feed my kids.”
In August, Suggs figured to get fed 25 carries a game. He was first on the 2005 depth chart, and why not? He had finished his rookie year of 2003 with a monster 186-yard game at Cincinnati.
After toe and neck injuries wrecked months of his 2004, he rushed for 379 yards over the final three games.
Suggs’ anticipated breakout 2005 broke down completely. He sprained an ankle in camp at the same time Reuben Droughns started to get frisky.
Suggs didn’t play until Game 3, then it wasn’t much. Losing the No. 1 running back job forced him to kick coverage duty, a job he had never done. He broke a thumb in Game 4 while tackling a Bears return man. He sat out a month.
MEMORY IS FADING
He’s back, but only on kick coverage the last two Sundays.
The same guy who has 1,033 career rushing yards and delivered a 100-yard receiving game against the Bengals just last year has these offensive totals for 2005:
n Two catches for 7 yards.
n Zero rushes for 0 yards.
By the end of last December, Suggs came off as the bright side of Butch Davis, a possible Round 4 steal from 2003.
Now, you wonder if he’s injury prone, if the new regime thinks much of him, and whether the two remaining years on his Browns contract are irrelevant.
“I think about it every now and then,” Suggs said, “but the 186-yard game at Cincinnati is two years ago. Those 100-yard games ... that’s a year ago. It’s been a while.
“I need to get in there and do it again and prove it to myself again.”
Ask the Bengals about either Suggs or Green. Marvin Lewis had big trouble with both of them last year.
BATTERING THE BENGALS
Last Oct. 17, the Browns looked unstoppable in a 34-17 blowout of the Bengals. Green rushed 25 times for 115 yards. Suggs caught five passes for 100 yards.
Suggs missed the crazy rematch three days after Thanksgiving at Cincinnati, a 58-48 Bengals win. Green set up play action for Kelly Holcomb, rushing 15 times for 75 yards. Green also loosened up the defense with two catches.
Now?
The same guy who amassed 2,031 rushing yards and 247 receiving yards from 2002-04 has posted these 2005 totals:
n 20 carries, 78 yards.
n Five catches, 30 yards.
Green has missed four of the last five games with an ankle sprain and played in one, joining Suggs on kick coverage.
What does a fellow like this hang his hat on? Does he think back to his first big game, when he helped the 2002 Browns start a playoff push with a win at Cincinnati? Does he remember his 205 yards from scrimmage when the offense was humming twice against the Bengals last year?
“My job is coming to work every day and doing what I’m asked to do,” Green said. “So, that’s what I hang my hat on.”
THEY’LL BE BACK
Suggs is signed through 2007, Green through 2006. Either is good insurance against Droughns getting hurt.
If Suggs and Green keep good attitudes, both are likely to be with the team next year.
Asked what kind of team guys Suggs and Green have been in 2005, Head Coach Romeo Crennel said, “Excellent.”
It’s not as if Crennel is under fire to play Suggs or Green.
Droughns ranks No. 9 in the NFL with 1,028 yards, within hailing distance of Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson (1,066).
Droughns is questionable for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati with a knee problem. A Suggs sighting or a glance at Green are possible. It isn’t probable. Droughns said Thursday that he intends to play. Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail: steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
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