Cleveland Browns (2007 & prior)

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12/2/05

Dilfer Returns to action...

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12/3/05

Crennel won’t tip hand on QB
Saturday, December 3, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Steve Doerschuk REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER


BEREA - Well, does Charlie Frye get the start?
It was one of those laugh-in-your-face questions Friday for Browns Coach Romeo Crennel.
“Even if I did know,” Crennel smirked, “why would I tell Jacksonville what we’re doing?
“Guys, it’s not rocket science we’re talking here.”
Unless Crennel chooses to leak his intentions today, the Browns will head into Sunday’s home game without saying whether Frye will replace Trent Dilfer at quarterback.
Dilfer has taken about half the practice snaps over the last two days but is listed as questionable with issues pertaining to both knees.
“They’re both pretty sore,” Dilfer said from a seat at his locker stall.
Standing at his locker, next to Dilfer’s, Frye didn’t seem to mind another day of extra media attention one bit. In fact, he said he went crazy in front of the TV Thursday night watching his alma mater, Akron, win an MAC title game thriller against Northern Illinois.
“I’m so happy for those guys, man,” he said. “Watch (quarterback) Michael Machen. He’s gonna be in the NFL.”
Frye has been in the NFL since an April minicamp, after the Browns made him a third-round pick. He has appeared in the last two games and seems undaunted about the stigma of being limited as a rookie QB.
“I don’t think any player in this league thinks he’s limited,” Frye said. “Everybody up here thinks, ‘I can play in this league. I can succeed.’ That’s what I think.”
Frye said his grasp of the offense from training camp to now is “night and day.”
“This is ... what? ... Week 12, Week 13,” he said. “That’s a long time to be sitting in meetings, so ... I feel a lot better.”
In the portion of Friday’s practice open to the media, Dilfer seemed to be dropping back and throwing passes without trouble. At one point, Dilfer walked past Frye and made a Three Stooges-style joke.
Both quarterbacks seemed upbeat. Frye said he doesn’t know if he’ll start.
“I’m feeling better,” Dilfer said. “I’ve made strides. I’ll leave it at that.
“I keep telling my (trainer) Marty Lauzon he’s a genius,” Dilfer said. “If anybody can get me ready, he can.”
That doesn’t address whether Crennel thinks Frye is ready for a start.
Crennel would only say, “We plan to try get (Frye) a couple series in the game, for sure, if we can.”
Reach Repository sports writer Steve Doerschuk
at (330) 580-8347 or e-mail steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
browns report
RUMOR MILL A Plain Dealer columnist in Friday’s editions alluded to “a rumor buzzing like crazy in Browns circles” as to QB Trent Dilfer e-mailing a complaint to owner Randy Lerner about the Browns’ offense. On Friday, Dilfer said, “It’s ridiculous. I just was informed about it. It’s absolutely ... it’s ludicrous.” MEDICAL REPORT Left guard Joe Andruzzi is still struggling with a calf injury that has sidelined him the last two games. Andruzzi said Friday that he is being told his status will be a game-day decision. He described his injury as “a slight tear.” STEVE DOERSCHUK
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12/5/05

No word on Edwards’ right knee
Monday, December 5, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER
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Edwards in pain.

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CLEVELAND - The serious look on Stan Edwards’ face wasn’t promising. But the father of Cleveland wide receiver Braylon Edwards did his best to put a good face on his son’s knee injury.
Edwards was injured in the fourth quarter of a 20-14 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound first-round draft pick went up for a pass at the Jaguars’ 21 and wrenched in pain on the grass at Cleveland Browns Stadium, grabbing his right knee.
Television replays showed his knee buckling and bending slightly inward as he landed.
X-rays, according to Stan Edwards, were negative.
“He’ll have more tests later on this afternoon,” he said outside the team’s X-ray room at the stadium. “So until then, we don’t know anything. Braylon doesn’t usually get hurt. This is new. We’re hoping for the best.”
Edwards was having, perhaps, the best day of his rookie season. He hauled in two touchdown passes from fellow rookie Charlie Frye, who made his first start at quarterback. Edwards had just one touchdown catch coming into this game.
Team officials only said Edwards would have an MRI later Sunday, or this morning. Ligament damage likely would mean an end to Edwards’ season.
“I know it’s a knee, but I don’t know anything else,” Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel said.
Edwards has 32 catches for 512 yards. His 16 yards a catch leads the Browns. His three touchdown catches are tied with Antonio Bryant among Cleveland receivers.
Edwards leads NFL rookie receivers in yardage.
“All he said was it was his knee and he heard something pop,” said Antonio Bryant, who talked to Edward as he lay on the field. “That’s all I know.” The Browns have not had much luck with their first-round draft picks. Tim Couch (1999) is out of football, Courtney Brown and Gerard Warren (2000 and ’01) were traded to Denver last offseason, William Green (2002) hasn’t played in five games and doesn’t have more than 10 carries in a game this season, Jeff Faine (2003) has started each of the last two seasons at center, Kellen Winslow Jr. (2004) missed most of last season with a broken ankle and will miss all of this season with a non-football injury, and Edwards was hurt Sunday. Reach Repository sports writer Todd Porter at (330) 580-8340 or e-mail: todd.porter@cantonrep.com.
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12/7/05

Loss to Jacksonville.....

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12/8/05

BROWNS NOTEBOOK
Thursday, December 8, 2005 <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE style="MARGIN: 10px -3px 15px 5px; POSITION: relative" width=300 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Related Stories
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CARSON CRITIQUE Trent Dilfer, the No. 6 overall pick of the 1994 draft, offered this progress report on Carson Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 draft: “Talking to people in Cincinnati, some friends on the team and coaches, they’re so impressed. One, they say he’s the most accurate passer they’ve ever seen. Jon Kitna said he’s never seen a more gifted thrower. When God decided to build a quarterback, He built Carson Palmer. It doesn’t matter what pressures you bring or what’s going on in the pocket. It doesn’t affect him. Now they’ve added another dimension by doing a lot of checks at the line of scrimmage and getting into the best play possible. The three best guys in the league at doing that are Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Matt Hasselbeck. Now I think you’ve got to put Carson in that group.”
KELLEY KO’D Ethan Kelley, who replaced veteran Jason Fisk at nose tackle for two games, has been placed on injured reserve with torn knee cartilage. Kelley is an inexperienced player who spent time under Crennel in New England and is bigger than the undersized Fisk. Fisk, 32, figures to start the final four games, and, according to Crennel, could remain on the team next year as part of the defensive line rotation. To take Kelley’s roster spot, the Browns signed defensive tackle J’Vonne Parker from the practice squad to the active roster. They also signed wide receiver Kendrick Mosley to the practice squad. MEDICAL REPORT Running back Reuben Droughns missed Wednesday’s practice with what Crennel called “a slight knee strain.” Crennel added, “I anticipate he’ll be OK for the game.” ... Joe Andruzzi, whose calf injury has forced backup Mike Pucillo to handle left guard duties the last three games, is “a little bit better.” — STEVE DOERSCHUK
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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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