Seeing Green: RB William Green made a case for himself in
the Browns backfield. Green followed Suggs in the backfield rotation as Reuben Droughns was suited up but did not play. Suggs had three carries for 11 yards.
Green had 12 carries for 44 yards. He also caught three passes for 22 yards.
Injury Update: LB Kenard Lang, DL Andrew Hoffman and S
Brodney Pool were injured. Pool and Lang were injured in the first half. Pool
was injured on the first play of the game—suffering a concussion on the opening
kickoff. Lang suffered what was termed a stinger. Hoffman suffered a foot injury
and did not return. Pool was the Browns’ second-round draft choice this year and
Hoffman was the team’s sixth-round choice.
“Brodney got dinged up a little bit,” Crennel said. “Kenard
got dinged. I think they’ll be OK.”
Sack Man Jones: The Browns had five sacks against the
Giants. S Sean Jones sacked QB Jesse Palmer for an 11-yard loss on the Giants’
first series in the third quarter. It forced the Giants to punt from their end
zone and the Browns took over on the Giants’ 46. LB Andra Davis had the Browns
first sack as he dropped Manning for a 12-yard loss in the first quarter. LB
Orlando Ruff sacked Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter. Ruff led the Browns with
six tackles. LB Justin Kurpeikis added a sack with 1:11 to play and Omar Nazel
added the final sack.
It’s Raining Yellow: Besides the thunderstorm, when the
teams were playing the officials were raining the field with yellow flags. The
two teams combined for 27 penalties (13 Browns, 14 Giants). In addition, there
were two penalties that were declined.
b S Chris Crocker intercepted QB Jesse Palmer
with 1:49 to play in the first half at the Browns 2-yard line. It was the Browns
first turnover of the preseason. Rookie Antonio Perkins had the other
interception of a Hasselbeck pass in the fourth quarter.
Kicking Duel: P Kyle Richardson’s first punt was just 30
yards. His second punt was for 58 yards. P Derrick Frost punted in the second
half. His first punt went for 40 yards and was downed at the Giants’ two. His
second punt went 40 yards, but was recovered by the Browns at the Giants’ 32
after a fumble. For the game, Richardson averaged 46 yards, while Frost averaged
40 yards. Richardson punted a final time with 1:18 to play and it traveled 53
yards.
The Sultan: RB Sultan McCullough was the workhorse in the
second half carrying the ball 11 times for 35 yards. He caught three passes for
26 yards.