If he didn’t show any rust after all this time, he should be just fine after serving his four-game suspension. “It was good just to get him out there in a game”, Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “I think what you see is a young football team that you’re going to see some of that, especially early until they get well-grounded”. “We defended the run better and I think we’re a little bit better at tackling, but we had some miscommunication that needs to get cleaned up”. Winston is doing a tremendous job of reading the play and adjusting accordingly. Gordon was only targeted twice and finished with 87 yards receiving, both his catches coming when he beat cornerback Brent Grimes, one of Tampa Bay’s key offseason acquisitions. The offensive line I think realized when we do that it’s to their advantage.
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In what’s supposed to be the dress rehearsal for the regular season, Cleveland’s starters were overwhelmed by Tampa Bay’s in a 30-13 loss.
Evans caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown (five targets) in Friday’s preseason game against the Browns. “He did some good things”. Also, starting nose tackle Danny Shelton, who is trying to bounce back from a rough rookie season, didn’t get on the field until midway through the first quarter as the Browns were mostly in their nickel package. Tampa Bay has played three preseason games now and in two of them, their pass rush has been nothing short of dominant.
“I think what’s important now is that we really start putting our units together and let them go play together because I think it’s so important that those guys play together, be together, be able to make calls”, Jackson said.
“I never said we’d be a juggernaut today, or yesterday”. Crow (running back Isaiah Crowell) had some really good runs in there at times, but it was nothing sustainable that we can kind of hang our hat on. He missed the first two preseason games with a quadriceps injury. While nobody should expect a division title immediately, Gordon’s return will at least make things interesting as the Browns can begin to keep pace with the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers to make them fight more for the division title that will likely go to one of those two.
Griffin went 8 of 14 for 119 yards and threw a 43-yard TD to Gordon, his former teammate at Baylor.
The defense is still searching for a reason to be excited or encouraged. While Tampa Bay was able to accumulate 305 total yards with the ball during the first half alone, the Buccaneers defense was able to rack up eight sacks and only allowed the Browns to gain 254 yards. “Get that experience again, get that feeling again of what it feels like to make a good play”, Gordon said. “When we’re talking about communication issues, that’s where some of that comes from”. The emphasis is on young players, collecting draft picks and growing under a coach they believe in. “We’re looking forward to him making the most of that”.
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It’ll be here before they know it.
