Browns Clips
The Rams have made one of their expected roster moves official on Thursday.
Myles Garrett has been placed on injured reserve, Los Angeles announced.
It was reported on Sunday that Garrett would have knee surgery and be placed on IR after an ineffective performance to start the season in the loss to the 49ers.
Head coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that the team had believed that Garrett’s knee injury was something he could work through.
Now, Garrett is officially out for at least the next four weeks.
The Rams did not announce a corresponding move, leaving a roster spot open.
The Rams will host the Giants on Monday night.
The Browns are adding a player who’s plenty familiar with their (current) backup quarterback.
According to multiple reports, Cleveland is signing receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. to its practice squad.
Horn — a Panthers sixth-round pick in last year’s draft — had a rough Week 1, muffing a punt while trying to make a fair catch. He was waived earlier this week as the team added a linebacker.
Horn could help the Browns as a returner, as Dylan Sampson is expected to miss significant time with a knee injury suffered during the season-opening loss to the Jaguars.
Horn played with Shedeur Sanders at Colorado before both were drafted last year. With Deshaun Watson struggling through Cleveland’s season opener as QB1, Sanders could be elevated to a starting role sooner than later.
Eight years to the day after Baker Mayfield made his debut for the Browns, he’ll be facing the Browns in his fourth year as the starting quarterback of the Buccaneers.
Buccaneers senior offensive assistant/pass game specialist Ken Zampese was Mayfield’s position coach when he came off the bench to beat the Jets on September 20, 2018. And Zampese had some candid comments on Wednesday about how the Browns blew it with Baker.
“They had the guy,” Zampese said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN. “They had the guy and they gave him up.”
They gave him up once they decided to make a franchise-altering (in a bad way) trade for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield was later traded to the Panthers.
“The year we were there, we were one of the best offenses in the NFL the second half of that season, 5-3, in a place that was -- before that season started -- 1-31,” Zampese said regarding Mayfield. “The script got flipped and the city came alive because they finally drafted a quarterback that worked out for them and they mucked it up. They mucked it up.”
Zampese was reunited with Mayfield this year, continuing their relationship that went well in the one year when they worked together.
Mayfield, in his third season, led the Browns to a playoff appearance, a win over the Steelers in the wild-card round, and a near-miss against the Chiefs in the divisional round. After an injury-riddled 2021, the Browns made the decision to move on.
Does Zampese think the Browns believe they “mucked it up” with Mayfield?
“I don’t know,” Zampese said. “It doesn’t matter. We got the guy we wanted [in Tampa] and that’s what’s important.”
They’ll have him on Sunday against the Browns. And the Bucs will be hoping to get the win that eluded them in Cincinnati to start the season.
Browns head coach Todd Monken stuck with Deshaun Watson as the team’s starting quarterback for this week’s game against the Buccaneers, but some are already looking ahead to what he’ll do in Week 3.
That will be the Browns’ home opener and Watson’s last appearance in Cleveland came amid cascades of boos during a preseason game. During a press conference on Wednesday, Monken was asked if Watson is in a position where he has to play well enough to earn another start.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Monken said. “I always expect our players to play well. I wouldn’t put them out there if I didn’t. I expect him to play really well and there were moments on Sunday when he did.”
There were also moments when he didn’t, of course, and it won’t take too many more of those to guarantee a similar reaction to Watson taking the field in Cleveland to the same reaction he got this summer. Monken has shrugged off fan reaction to his decisions in the past, but there would seem to be a level Watson has to reach this Sunday in order for the Browns to continue trying to salvage something from his tenure with the team.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has had Sunday’s game circled since the schedule release in the spring, as Tampa Bay will host Cleveland — the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2018.
The end of Mayfield’s time with the Browns was ugly, with the team eventually replacing him with Deshaun Watson after an injury-plagued 2021. But in 2020, Mayfield helped the club end a long postseason victory drought with a blowout win over the division-rival Steelers in the wild card round.
Asked how he remembers his time with Cleveland, Mayfield emphasized the positive.
“Yeah, I mean, with any experience, there’s ups and downs, good and bad. Ultimately, you remember the good more so than the bad,” Mayfield said. “Yeah, first time having a playoff win since ’94 there. And going on the road and doing it in Pittsburgh.
“So, a lot of good memories there. A lot of teammates that are friends for life. But like I said earlier, it’s a very different building now.”
Different coaching staff or not, Mayfield is known for playing with his emotions on his proverbial sleeve and a chip on his shoulder. To combat some of the potential ill effects of that, Mayfield said he’s focusing on making sure he gets the little things right this week, particularly after fumbling three times in the Week 1 loss to Cincinnati.
“Taking it one day at a time, making sure that you harp on little details,” Mayfield said. “That goes back to, obviously, not coming out on the right side of the game last week, of really focusing on the small details. And so, when you do that, good things will happen on Sundays.
“So, for me, focusing on that and then when the lights come on, you get out there and play, it’s time to go — let it loose.”
Deshaun Watson will start for the Browns again on Sunday when they play Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
Fortunately for Watson — who was vociferously booed by Cleveland fans during the preseason — the start will come on the road.
But Week 3 looms, which will be the Browns’ home opener against the Panthers.
Does Watson feel like he has to put up a solid performance this week to build up some goodwill with the fanbase?
“No, I think personally, I think all that is for the media,” Watson said in his Wednesday press conference. “I think the media has this expectation that I’m supposed to throw [for] 400 yards and five touchdowns every week. So, until that happens, I guess it’s going to be the same situation.
“Again, my job is to make sure I’m operating well so we can try to get a win and keep moving forward from there.”
And what did Watson see on film from the Week 1 loss to the Jaguars?
“Finding completions, operating well. That’s pretty much it,” Watson said of his performance. “Had one turnover, a couple — that one sack-fumble, have to protect the ball, but we recovered it. That’s pretty much it, for real. We just didn’t have opportunities in the red zone to get points. Only six incompletions — one of them was a pick, one of them was the end of the game, end of the half. Tipped ball. Two missed throws, and then a throwaway.”
It’s hard to know what Watson means by operating well, as the offense finished with multiple pre-snap penalties and had to resort to a timeout to avoid more.
It’s also worth noting that when it comes to expectations for Watson, they are quite low — whether it’s from the media or the fanbase. That’s part of why Cleveland’s fanbase is so frustrated, because the perception based on his performance over several years is that he gives the club little chance to win.
Watson has not yet thrown for even 300 yards since joining the Browns. It’s unlikely Week 2 will be the first time that happens.
The Browns have made a roster move with running back/returner Dylan Sampson.
Cleveland has placed Sampson on injured reserve, after it was reported earlier in the day that he is expected to miss “significant time.”
Sampson, a fourth-round pick in 2025, returned a pair of kicks on Sunday before he exited with a knee injury. Last season, Sampson rushed for 175 yards and caught 33 passes for 271 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
As a corresponding move, the Browns signed running back Jaleel McLaughlin to the 53-man roster.
Additionally, Cleveland signed running back Eric Gray, offensive tackle Obinna Eze, punter Wes Pahl, and offensive tackle Xavier Truss to the practice squad and released cornerback D’Angelo Ross and defensive tackle Chris Williams from the practice squad.
Browns running back Dylan Sampson left Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars after hurting his knee in the first quarter and it will reportedly be some time before he’s back in the lineup.
Head coach Todd Monken said on Monday that Sampson was still being evaluated, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that he is expected to miss significant time.
Sampson returned two kickoffs before leaving the loss to Jacksonville. He is the No. 2 back behind Quinshon Judkins on the depth chart, but the Browns only played one offensive series prior to his injury.
Sampson was a fourth-round pick last year and ran 65 times for 175 yards as a rookie. He also caught 33 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns.
Raheim Sanders is the only other back behind Judkins on the 53-man roster. Former Bronco Jaleel McLaughlin is on the practice squad.
During the pregame show for Sunday night’s matchup between the Cowboys and Giants, new NBC analyst Mike Tomlin quoted one of his former players when talking about Cleveland’s ugly 34-10 loss to Jacksonville.
“In the words of my friend JuJu Smith-Schuster,” Tomlin said, “the Browns is the Browns.”
Smith-Schuster made those words famous back in 2020, ironically before the Browns then pounded the Tomlin-led Steelers in the wild card round. But the saying has stuck in part because the Browns have had just one winning season since — and even that ended with an ugly postseason loss.
Asked about Tomlin’s comments in his Monday video conference, first-year head coach Todd Monken seemed to take some exception to them.
“Well, again, everybody’s afforded their opinions. That’s what you do when you go from coaching to television,” Monken said. “We have to own that. We have to own that. We didn’t play very well. I don’t see it that way, Browns being Browns. I don’t see it that way. Every week is different, every team is different. We just didn’t play well. That’s one week. That’s not Browns being Browns, that’s Browns being poorly on one week.
“So, again, everybody’s afforded their opinion. And the only way to change people’s opinion is to play better. That’s a fact. We don’t want to be considered an also-ran, then we have to play better. We have to coach better, and we have to play better.”
At this point, Monken is right — the only way the Browns can change their perception is by winning. We’ll see if they can at least be competitive against the Buccaneers on Sunday, though that will be unlikely if Deshaun Watson does not play any better at quarterback.
If you thought the Browns would stop playing Deshaun Watson after their Week 1 stinker — why?
Head coach Todd Monken said in his Monday video conference that Watson is set to start the team’s Week 2 matchup with the Buccaneers in Tampa on Sunday.
Watson finished Sunday’s 34-10 loss 16-of-22 for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Forty-six of those yards came on that TD pass to Denzel Boston, which came with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter.
“It’s only been two weeks that he’s gotten all the reps,” Monken said. “And there were some really good things on film — some things that you can build on. And there were some others that — you know, operationally, we’ve got to get better at. There’s concepts that, there’s only so many looks you get from week to week, be it red zone concepts, third-down concepts.
“I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn’t play tentative, that he let it rip. Even the touchdown at the end, sure that was garbage time, but that was on their [No.] 1 corner. That was one of their starters out there. And that was a communication between him and the receiver. So, there were a lot of things to build on. Was it perfect? Of course not, otherwise we wouldn’t have scored as few of points as we did. But I’d like to see how we can build on that. I like his week of practice last week. And I think he’s only going to continue to get better.”
Monken said there wasn’t much discussion about potentially replacing Watson as QB1 after his Sunday performance.
“No, just confirmed it when I looked at the tape,” Monken said. “We’ve got to play better around him. We’ve got to call it better. And he’s got to play better.
“Our inability to function consistently as an offense was a byproduct of we — coaching and playing.”
While Watson threw an interception to end Cleveland’s first drive, Monken said he didn’t feel like the quarterback got tentative when it came to throwing downfield after that play.
“I would say that some of those weren’t called,” Monken said. “[T]here were times where we were trying to push the ball down the field and he did have a missed throw once we moved the pocket one time. But I know right before halftime, he made two great throws that put us in position. And then we got a couple of holding calls that had nothing to do with Deshaun.
“So, without watching the tape, you could say that — you could say, hey, he looked a little tentative there. And it’d be like, no, not really. Really, we just didn’t call certain routes to push it down the field, or we didn’t execute.”
The real issue, according to Monken, is that the club had “too many Browns hurting Browns moments.”
“And then even as we got later in the game, I did not see that one bit — that he was tentative in terms of trying to throw it down the field,” Monken said. “Sure, there’s a couple of times maybe he could’ve pumped it down there. But in my mind, I didn’t see that.”
Maybe we’ll all see something different in Week 2 when Cleveland plays Tampa Bay.
