Offensive coordinator and play-caller Tommy Rees says if he could've done it over, he would have used fullback Adin Huntington and Quinshon Judkins on a fourth-and-1 run instead of a pass play that resulted in a sack. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Fans pining for some direct accountability from the Browns received a healthy mea culpa from new play-caller Tommy Rees on Thursday.
It didn’t take long on Coordinator Day in the media room for the ill-fated fourth-and-1 call in the Jets game to be brought up.
With the Browns behind, 24-17, they moved from their 34-yard line to the Jets’ 33 on six consecutive handoffs. On fourth-and-1, Rees lined up quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the shotgun with five available pass-catchers in front of him. Gabriel was sacked for the fourth time by Will McDonald, who beat Cam Robinson. The turnover on downs contributed to the 27-20 loss.
“Talk about a play-call you want back, you start there,” Rees said.
“We made an aggressive play call. It didn’t work out. They had a good call on defense, and we just didn’t execute it at the end of the day.
“Those are ones as a play-caller that you want to always put your guys in the right position. We were running it pretty good at that point on that drive, so certainly could have handled that differently and executed it differently. So, we’ll learn from it. I’ll learn from it and get better on it.”
Which led to some follow-ups about why Rees seemed to disdain the use of 280-pound defensive tackle-fullback Adin Huntington in that situation, and throughout the game. Huntington had averaged about four snaps a game as a lead-blocking force in the first five games.
After suffering a concussion in the Miami game before the bye, Huntington lined up only one time as a fullback in the Jets game.
Fullbacks are fairly extinct in the college game, where Rees served as coordinator for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame and Nick Saban at Alabama. I asked him if he was anti-fullback.
“We played with one at Notre Dame, my whole time there,” Rees said. “I love fullbacks. If I was stockier, I probably would have been a fullback.”
Should have just lined up Huntington with Quinshon Judkins and powered the ball for the first down?
“Like I said, want that call back. You’re right on that,” Rees said.
“[Huntington’s] done such a great job for us in his role. You know, there is a balance of pulling him from defense where he is playing, pulling him from special teams where he is playing. You know, obviously he wasn’t available a few weeks back [because of the concussion], so all those go into it. But you know, Adin’s been a key part of our success in short yardage situations and goal line situations that we do have a lot of trust in him to get his job done.”
All of which brought a wide smile to Huntington’s face, who has graded out highly in his dual role as a lead blocker.
“I trust Coach Rees. I trust Coach [Kevin] Stefanski,” Huntington said. “So whatever their judgment is and whatever they have, I trust it. They have a great game plan regardless of my plays being used or not. So when they call my plays, I just gotta make sure that I execute, so that's all I really want.”
I believe Huntington, who played some fullback at Kent State, is an under-utilized offensive weapon. I’d expand his role to include a carry, or two … and then, yes, a pass off play-action near the goal line.
“It's all good,” he said with a laugh. “I enjoy whatever they have me do.”
About that play-call
Fact is, Cedric Tillman was wide open two yards beyond the first-down marker on the fourth-and-1. But the point is, Rees shouldn’t put a struggling rookie quarterback on a rainy day in position to have to make that play.
“Yeah, I should have run the ball,” Rees said. “You can freeze almost any play, right? and say, ‘Hey, this guy’s open.’ Great. I want to make sure I’m putting our players in the right spot. I made a call, an aggressive one, it didn’t work. We gotta move on to the next.”
Fair enough.
Gabriel’s struggles highly exaggerated?
Criticism of Gabriel from fans and media wanting to see Shedeur Sanders get his chance intensified when Stefanski failed to answer a question earlier in the week about where he sees improvement in Gabriel.
Rees shed more insight on the issue on Thursday. His assessment helps to explain why the leash on Gabriel is longer than critics would like.
“We always grade that part of them,” Rees said about Gabriel’s decision-making, “and he grades out pretty high. Look, nobody’s going to bat a thousand. I don’t bat a thousand calling it. Nobody’s going to bat a thousand in really anything they do. But I would say he grades out where we want him.
“Dillon’s prep and where he is mentally for a rookie is really well beyond. He’s mature in that way and we want to make sure that those things that are happening during the week, we go ahead and execute them on Sundays.”
More accountability
Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, on the two long touchdown returns by the Jets given up within 36 seconds of each other:
“We need to do a better job. We haven’t played near our capabilities. We’ve had too many issues with just dumb football, dumb mistakes. But look, I will say this, we have a prideful group, and I expect these guys to respond, I really do.”
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, on the Devin Bush holding call, the Cam Thomas offsides, and the breakdown on a 42-yard catch-and-run for a TD by Breece Hall:
“We made three mistakes in that game – we get a holding penalty on third and extra-long when they’re just trying to keep the clock running. And then we jump offsides, cardinal sin in four-minute … really embarrassing play for us. And the other one where we’re aggressive to try to keep them out of field goal range. It’s a tight game, we were behind the eight ball early in the game and we’re trying to keep them out of field goal range. So, you’re aggressive and you’re blitzing, and they get one block and all of a sudden they can score a touchdown.”
Brownie bits
Ventrone said he appreciated Stefanski endorsing him despite the ‘teams giving up six return TDs in his three seasons as Browns special teams coordinator. “I’ve been in the NFL a long time. I’ve played, I’ve coached for a long time,” he said. “You know, there’s times when stuff does not go your way, and the game comes down to playing with great fundamentals and techniques. So, if you’re not doing those things, you’re going to get beat. Unfortunately, we’re learning the hard way right now.” As for the outside noise calling for his firing, Ventrone said, “Yeah, I’m unfazed by that stuff. It really does not bother me at all – I could care less.” …
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Grant Delpit suffered the humiliation of having to wear an Alabama hoodie to start his media appearance on Thursday after losing a friendly bet with Jerry Jeudy on the LSU-Alabama game last week. Alabama won, 20-8. Delpit removed the hoodie after a couple minutes, inciting the ire of Jeudy …
Defensive end Alex Wright (quad) was the only player not to practice.