BEREA – When you’re 1-5 and not much going right, it would be easy to throw in the
towel and start pointing toward 2007.
“There’s hope (for this year),” Romeo Crennel said. “If you don’t have hope,
you might as well go home. I think there might be some players frustrated
because we’re not winning, but I don’t think any of them don’t believe in what
we’re trying to do here.”
Crennel said it’s the whole team that’s losing.
“I talked to the guys about hanging together and not getting pulled apart,”
Crennel said. “Times are tough and we have to deal with the adversity and do
better.
“When you talk to your guys about team, that involves everybody,” he said. “I
try to make it a point to the team that one side of the ball can’t do it
themselves. I preach to the defense that their job is to play defense. Likewise,
we expect the offense to go play offense, whatever the situation is.”
Joe Jurevicius said the Browns have to turn things around themselves.
“It’s all about attitude,” he said. “Sure, there should be some
criticism, we’re 1-5. But, let’s turn things around. We have the talent and
we’ve done some things thus far that are not up to par.”
“We have to put any negativity out of our minds and get back to the Cleveland Browns tradition of winning games,” he said. “I came here to try and help the
Browns become winners again.”
The Browns offensive woes continued as they scored just seven points against
the Broncos after an Andra Davis interception that started the drive at the
Denver
18.
“Offensively, the consistency word I continue to use, we continue to struggle
with that,” Crennel said. “We weren’t able to sustain the drives when we needed
to. This all culminated in the loss. We have to eliminate the mistakes.
“We show signs here and there, but we’re not consistent enough.”
Notebook
Joe Clears Air: Joe Jurevicius spoke to reporters in clearing the air for
comments he made after the game when he said “To hell with them” in references
to the criticism leveled against the Browns by fans and media in
Cleveland.
“We need to be in this thing for the long haul,” he said. “I’ve been through
the drive, the fumble and so on. I’m a die hard Browns fan. I had a chance to go
other places, but I wanted to come home and that’s why I came to the Browns.
“I bleed orange and brown and if any Browns fans took what I said I
apologize,” he said. “I said what I said just a couple of minutes after a tough
game where I dropped a couple of passes.”
Baxter Suffers Severe Injuries: CB Gary Baxter is lost for the season and
possibly his career. He suffered tears to the patellar tendon to both knees
according to Crennel. This is the same injury that put OL LeCharles Bentley on
the shelf for at least a year.
“(Baxter’s) having surgery and we’re going to lose him,” Crennel said.
Crennel said he’s optimistic that Baxter will eventually return to the field.
“I think he has a good attitude about it and he’ll rehab,” Crennel said.
The original diagnosis for Bentley was at least a year for one knee. Baxter
faces dealing with coming back from both knees.
“There’s adversity in everybody’s life,” Crennel said. “If you can deal with
adversity today, you can appreciate the success at a later time.”
Baxter’s teammates are concerned for their comrade.
“Obviously, it’s a tough blow,” Jurevicius said. “He’s fought hard to come
back. It’s unfortunate, because he’s such an integral part of the team.”
Mo No Go: Crennel was asked if there would be a change at offensive
coordinator.
“Things can always change in football, but I’m sticking with Maurice right
now,” he said.
Crennel was asked if he thought the offense would’ve had more production,
especially after coming off the bye week.
“I thought we would’ve done better,” he said.
Other Injuries: The only other injuries mentioned by Crennel was the mild
concussion suffered early on by QB Charlie Frye.
“Charlie had a concussion but was able to come back,” he said. “We talked
with him after several series and he was able to operate fine.”
Bentley Infection: Crennel would neither confirm nor deny that OL LeCharles
Bentley has suffered a staph infection after his injury.
“LeCharles is at home rehabbing and we’ll talk about him Friday.”
Third, Fourth Down Inefficiency: The Browns continue to struggle big time
when they really need a first down. Against the Broncos, the Browns were 1-of-11
on third down and 0-of-3 on fourth down for a whopping 1-of-14 overall or .071
average.