In the wake of an embarrassing offensive effort in a season-opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys, there’s plenty for the Cleveland Browns to clean up ahead of a Week 2 trip to Jacksonville, which is also 0-1.
For the Browns, improvement probably starts with much-improved accuracy from quarterback Deshaun Watson and a cleaner overall operation. Penalties were a problem, and as the Cowboys increased their lead, they ramped up the pressure on Watson.
Per Pro Football Focus, Watson was 0-of-10 on passes that traveled more than 10 yards downfield. The Browns started their first drive in Cowboys territory and got a field goal to open the scoring, but the first down they got on that first drive was their only first down of the first half. Over their next seven possessions from the middle of the first quarter to the start of the third, the Browns managed 16 total yards and accumulated 30 penalty yards.
Watson was sacked six times. The game’s official stat sheet had Watson being hit 17 times, and the NFL’s NexGen Stats had the Cowboys recording 25 pressures. Against pressure, Watson was 5-of-17 for 22 yards. In total, Watson was 24-of-45 for 169 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Taking the blame himself as part of trying to take the spotlight off his players after a poor performance has long been part of Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s playbook, so it was no surprise that he did it again this week.
“Offensively, it’s never a one-man show,” Stefanski said. “To get in rhythm with the quarterback, you have to get in rhythm as an offense, and we didn’t do that well enough. (That’s) multifaceted, and it includes me and includes our coaches. So, we’ll be better. We’ll make sure that we have an offense where we can move the ball, score some points, but it’s definitely not a one-man show.
“There’s plenty to correct. Specific to the quarterback, there are going to be games and there are going to be throws that you miss, but it’s making those plays that are there when they present themselves. And then we just have to do a better job protecting (Watson), number one. We can’t allow our quarterback to get hit that many times.”
Per TruMedia, Watson’s average time to throw was 4.16 seconds, eighth best in the league in the season’s first week. That says that Watson getting the ball out of his hand quicker could be a key to the Browns becoming a more efficient passing team.
Getting it fixed
Though the Cowboys held leads of 27-3 and 33-10 in the second half, Watson finished the game. Stefanski has to hope those reps provide an evaluation point and growth point for an offense that didn’t get many live reps as a full unit during training camp.
Though running back Jerome Ford got at least 4 yards on five of his seven first-down runs, the run game as a whole didn’t help the Browns move the chains or keep the Cowboys pass rush at bay. In the game’s first 48 or so minutes — the Cowboys went up 33-10 with 11:51 to go — the Browns ran 10 times for 34 yards. Three of those were Watson scrambles for a total of 24 yards, so on seven called runs with the game somewhat in question, the Browns rushed for 10 total yards.
No one is expecting the Browns to run Ford between the tackles 20 times or get 100 yards out of doing that, but getting more out of the run game — whether it’s via Ford, Watson or someone else — could help the Browns keep Watson out of must-pass spots.
Watson completed just 2 of 9 targets to Amari Cooper, and a well-placed lob to Cooper in the fourth quarter that might have been a touchdown was dropped. Six targets to Elijah Moore resulted in just three catches for 9 yards.
In camp, we saw a lot of short throws from Watson to Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. Now, the Browns have to find more completions with Njoku sidelined. Though Stefanski didn’t confirm an NFL Network report that said Njoku has a high ankle sprain, Stefanski classified Njoku as “week to week” with the injury he suffered in the third quarter.
Njoku was injured at the end of a 29-yard completion, the Browns’ longest play of the game. Njoku had played 28 snaps before the injury and was targeted five times. He’s been a focal point of the offense, and without him the Browns will need more out of Jeudy, who caught the season’s first touchdown pass but had just three receptions for 25 yards.
On Jeudy’s first catch last week, the Browns motioned him to the backfield with Watson in the shotgun, then threw a simple pass to Jeudy in the left flats for a 4-yard gain. It was an opportunity to get both the passer and pass catcher in the flow of things — and potentially for Jeudy to make a defender miss. Look for Jeudy to get more of those scripted chances with Njoku absent. The Browns have to get Watson and Cooper on the same page, too.
The Browns had been carrying only two tight ends on the active roster: Njoku and Jordan Akins. Akins was Watson’s teammate with the Houston Texans and caught three of his four targets last week. So while the Browns can feel good about Akins getting to the right spot, he’s not the after-catch playmaker Njoku is. Ford was the primary running back last week, as he played 75 percent of the offensive snaps. D’Onta Foreman played just one offensive snap, and Foreman’s role likely will increase if the Browns either get goal-line opportunities or try to go with a straight-ahead run game.
James Hudson III made his first start at left tackle last week because two of the Browns’ more experienced tackles, Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin, are still trying to come back from knee injuries. Wills’ two limited practices last week were his first since midseason last year, and Stefanski said Conklin is “continuing to work very hard and get close.” Conklin has gone through five practices since being activated Aug. 27, but the Browns made him inactive for last week’s game. Germain Ifedi was called up from the practice squad to be the emergency tackle, and Ifedi played two snaps at right tackle when Dawand Jones left briefly with an injury.
It’s unclear what the plans are at left tackle this week. Conklin could split reps with Hudson or play as an extra tackle in some jumbo packages if Conklin returns. Last week, the Browns used rookie guard Zak Zinter as an extra blocker on two snaps. With the tight end shortage, don’t rule out the Browns using at least one additional offensive lineman if they try to rely on the power run game to spark the offense against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Comings and goings
The Browns added wide receiver Kadarius Toney to their practice squad Monday, and Tuesday they signed tight end Geoff Swaim to the practice squad and linebacker Khaleke Hudson from the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad to the active roster. Players signed off another team’s practice squad are guaranteed three weeks on the active roster of their new team, and Hudson’s addition comes a day after Stefanski put linebackers Tony Fields II (ankle) and Mohamoud Diabate (hip) in the week-to-week category. Veteran defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II (ankle) is also week to week, Stefanski said.
With Hurst’s injury, the Browns also promoted defensive lineman Sam Kamara from the practice squad to the active roster. The defensive tackle rotation had to be addressed with Hurst injured and rookie Mike Hall Jr. still on the commissioner’s exempt list in the wake of his Aug. 13 arrest on a domestic violence charge. Hall’s next court hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, was rescheduled for Sept. 19.
The Browns released cornerback Justin Hardee and wide receiver Tulu Griffin from the practice squad. Hardee, a native Clevelander, got $600,000 guaranteed on a one-year contract to join the Browns this offseason, but he didn’t make the team out of camp and the Browns brought back special-teams-first cornerback Mike Ford Jr. via the practice squad in late August. Ford was promoted for last week’s game and played on all of the team’s kick coverage units.
Toney could eventually help the Browns in the return game and short passing game — potentially even out of the backfield. The 2021 first-round pick has battled drop issues and injuries, but he’s been explosive at times and scored four regular-season touchdowns over his two rocky seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. There’s no immediate room for Toney in the wide receiver rotation, but the combination of Njoku’s absence and last week’s poor performance could change that.
Among the tight ends who worked out for the Browns on Tuesday morning were Swaim, Irv Smith Jr., Tommy Sweeney, Zach Gentry and Tyler Kroft. Swaim, who turns 31 this weekend, played three seasons in Tennessee when Browns consultant/part-time tight ends coach Mike Vrabel was the head coach of the Titans.
The Browns traded kicker Cade York to the Washington Commanders in late August for a conditional seventh-round pick, but the potential compensation is now voided after the Commanders released York on Monday. York, who was back this offseason for a second stint with the Browns, was cut after missing two field goals in Washington’s opener. The Commanders signed Austin Seibert, another former Browns kicker, to replace him.
The Browns drafted York in the fourth round in 2022 but moved on in the summer of 2023. The Browns instead went with Dustin Hopkins, who earned a three-year extension this July. York was brought back in the spring on a futures contract because the Browns thought they could revitalize his career — and potentially trade him — while keeping Hopkins on a limited kick count through the offseason. Hopkins, 33, tied the Browns’ franchise record for made field goals in a season with 31 before he suffered a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the season’s final two games and the playoff loss in Houston.
(Top photo of Amari Cooper: Ken Blaze / USA Today)
