Jerome Ford credited a teammate for his 50-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown against the Jets. (Cleveland Browns)
Browns won’t play everybody, but they won’t mail in last regular-season game in Cincinnati
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns interviews …
“We’re looking to go 1-0 this week.”
You probably knew that would be the Browns’ mantra even though their regular-season finale in Cincinnati on Sunday doesn’t affect their playoff seeding or the Bengals’, who have been eliminated.
“We're playing the Cincinnati Bengals. Our focus is there. Going 1-0, and then we'll go from there.”
So, the comments coming out of the Zoom interviews on Monday were not surprising.
Except for one thing.
It wasn’t Kevin Stefanski mouthing the company line of the 2023 season. It was the players, in this case running back Jerome Ford and linebacker Sione Takitaki.
What it shows is how the coach has trained his players to focus on the now, and not the future. It's worked fine so far, right?
“I feel like that's important for us leading into the playoffs,” Takitaki said. “You know what I mean? We have to focus on this game, and it'll set everything up after that. You don't want to look too far ahead.
“Everybody in the locker room is focused on this week and going 1-0 and they're going to keep score. A division opponent, that's a big game to a lot of guys in the locker room, including myself, and we're ready for it.”
The Browns (11-5) have locked up second place in the AFC North for only the third time in the 22-year history of the reconfigured division. They haven’t won a division title since the old AFC Central in 1989.
A win in Cincinnati would give the Browns their first 4-2 record in division games of the expansion era. That would be their best division record since going 5-1 in the Central in 1987.
Who’s in? Who’s out?
Stefanski’s official position on the 17th game in Cincinnati is “we want to finish strong.” He doesn’t deny he will sit regulars, but he’s not close to specifying who will or won’t play.
It’s reasonable to assume that players recovering from recent injuries – receivers Elijah Moore (still in concussion protocol) and Amari Cooper (heel), cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder), free safety Juan Thornhill (calf) – won’t see action.
But what about quarterback Joe Flacco, who’s played only five games in 12 months? Or defensive end Myles Garrett, who’s embroiled in a close race for defensive player-of-the-year honors?
“You're trying to obviously balance all those things as you make decisions for your football team,” Stefanski said. “Like I said, it's important for us to finish strong, so that's what we're going to do, and then we'll get as healthy as we can going into the next season.”
I asked Stefanski who will participate in the discussion of whom to play. Will it be just coaches, or anyone else?
“I consult with Andrew [Berry, GM] and Paul [DePodesta, chief strategy officer] and the coaches on this type of thing. You always want to get everybody's opinion on it, but it's my decision,” Stefanski said.
This isn’t as easy a call as in the last preseason game, with rosters still at 90. Stefanski and his coaches have to be very selective because they can’t just play second-stringers. There aren’t enough backup linemen to fill out a starting five, for instance.
“You're just trying to do what’s in the best interest of your football team, whether you play your guys, rest your guys,” he said. “You can't rest everybody. There's roster limitations. We took care of business last week, but we have to finish strong. That's our mentality. That's what we're trying to do.”
A 12th win would be the most for the franchise since the 1986 season.
Did you see that?
Ford’s 50-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown against the Jets was the product of Flacco sidestepping pressure and delivering the ball, and Ford running hard through traffic.
And something else, too.
“My favorite part about the play actually is if you look at the very end of the play, you can see [receiver] Marquise Goodwin shoot across the field and just knock somebody out,” Ford said. “And I felt like that was a big help in the touchdown and I didn't realize it until I watched it again on film. I'm like, 'Dang, he really smacked that dude.' So, yeah, that's my favorite part of that play.”
Post-season status for receiver Elijah Moore, who suffered a concussion in the Jets game, won't be known until next week. (Cleveland Browns)
Brownie bits
Stefanski said Moore and Cooper are both “feeling better,” but had no other update on their status …
In case you missed it, the game at Cincinnati has been set for 1 p.m. on Sunday. It could have been flexed to Saturday if it had playoff ramifications …
The Browns will open the playoffs at the winner of the AFC South Division, which is the No. 4 seed. It will be Jacksonville if the Jaguars beat Carolina. If Jacksonville loses, it was be the winner of Texans v. Colts in Indianapolis …
The only way the Browns can host a playoff game is if the sixth or seventh seed – which won’t be determined until after Sunday’s games – wins two playoff games and makes it to the AFC Championship Game. The Browns can’t host a game if the first, second or third seed makes it to the title game. The NFL does not re-seed based on records …
Looking ahead to the wild-card game, which has yet to be scheduled – Saturday, January 13 is the most likely – Stefanski would not speculate if linebacker Anthony Walker (knee), defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo, safety Grant Delpit (groin), kicker Dustin Hopkins (hamstring) or punter Corey Bojorquez (quad) would be available. “You want to get all those guys back, obviously, but we'll just have to see how they do over the next 7-14 days,” Stefanski said.
