Wednesday, Aug. 5 – The Browns have made no secret of the fact they want – and – and need – to run the ball in order to win. Run the ball, play good defense and special teams and flip the field-position whenever possible to eke out 17-13 wins. Yup, that’s the grand plan for this year’s club. But, less than a week into training camp, the Browns are all banged up at running back. The only place the Browns backs are running are to the trainer’s table. Terrance West, coming off a decent rookie season in 2014, and rookie Duke Johnson, being counted on to be a third-down receiver out of the backfield, something the team lacked big-time last year, are both out indefinitely with injuries. Hmmm. So with that having been said, do the Browns go out and sign now street free agent Ray Rice? Rice, of course, is a proven commodity as a runner. The Browns know that all too well from his performances against them when he was with the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens. He is a tough, hard-nosed, between-the-tackles runner, which is just what teams need to survive in this rugged, no-nonsense division. But there’s a catch. Rice is more known now – much more, really – as being the face of domestic violence in the NFL, so much so, in fact, that it caused the Ravens to part ways with him – and in a hurry. In having covered the opposing locker room at Browns games for four years, I can tell you that Rice was about as good of a guy as I ran across. In fact, he may have been the best. His personality seemed above reproach. He was the last player I ever thought would strike a woman, especially the one for whom he has professed his love. As such, just like in the old TV show, To Tell The Truth, will the real Ray Rice please stand up? Can the Browns make that determination? Are they good enough in looking into the heart and soul of a man and seeing what’s really in there? After all, the story of the day at training camp on Tuesday was, to a great extent, the continued mediocre play of cornerback Justin Gilbert, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. When it comes to draft busts, he is an all-timer thus far. He can’t play and doesn’t seem to care that he can’t. The Browns would like to get him going by stoking his fire – that is, if they could just find it. But how could their coaches and personnel people, especially General Manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine, sit across a table from Gilbert, look him in the eye and not see that lack of drive? It’s unbelievable that they missed the mark so badly. Understanding that, then, is there any legitimate reason to believe they could look Rice in the eye and figure him out? Pettine is a former Ravens assistant coach, but would that help him in such a process? Would it really matter at all? Keep in mind, though, that there is still a belief out there, despite Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s strong vote of confidence for them the other day, that Pettine and Farmer have to win this year in order to keep their jobs. Browns camp could be called Camp Happy thus far. No controversy. No stories. Everybody just going about their work. Maybe the guys even roast marshmallows together after dark. That’s good for building a team. But so would be getting a huge help at running back. Is it worth the gamble to break up the monotony and sign a guy who will bring Controversy! with a capital c and an exclamation point after it? Well, is it, Ray, Mike and Jimmy?
Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015 – Outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo injured his knee in Wednesday’s training camp practice, and it’s reportedly serious enough – perhaps a torn meniscus – that it could keep him out a while. In a perfect world, this would be looked upon as a major blow to the Browns. After all, Mingo was taken in the first round, at No. 6 overall, in the 2014 NFL Draft and, with this being his third season, he should just be coming into his own as a real force. But Mingo is none of that and, barring some minor miracle, he never will be. Mingo can’t play, and his absence, for however long it is, will not matter a bit to the team. He is a draft bust, the 2013 version of cornerback Justin Gilbert, who was selected at No. 8 overall in 2014 and still isn’t good enough to get onto the field. Yes, Mingo had already been battrling injuries before this season, but, in the big picture, that’s insignificant, for when he has been healthy, he has not been productive. The tip-off of just how ineffective he has been, and how little the current Browns coaches think of him, came last season when head coach Mike Pettine announced that Mingo would concentrate on being a coverage man. That’s like buying an expensive car and then saying you’re going to use it only to go to the grocery store and bank. You’re paying through the nose for that car, so you have to get more use out of it. As such, the Browns have to get more out of the sixth pick in the draft. He has to be a three-down player in the very least. And when that doesn’t happen, it sets a franchise back. You can’t miss on those high picks. You just can’t. Mingo is symbolic of the 2013 draft, out of which the Browns got virtually nothing. Cornerback Leon McFadden and safety Jamoris Slaughter, the next two-highest picks, were even worse busts. They’re long gone. The only salvation is defensive end Armonty Bryant, a seventh-rounder who has shown promise. That breadth of that draft – or, as it were, the lack thereof — is just another part of the distasteful and destructive residue left behand from the Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi regime. Those two couldn’t have damaged the franchise worse if they had tried. Pettine wasn’t here in 2013, and General Manager Ray Farmer was only the assistant to Lombardi, so he he can’t be held culpable, either. But these draft faux pas, whether in 2013 or last season, when their second first-round pick, quarterback Johnny Manziel, is coming off rehab and is also struggling mightily, just like Gilbert, are why the Browns have stumbled and bumbled through this expansion era since they returned in 1999. The only good part of all this? Since Pettine and Farmer didn’t draft Mingo and he’s not their responsibility, they will not hesitate to get rid of him. But Pettine and Farmer aren’t out of the woods by any means. They are hoping and praying two other guys (their replacements?) aren’t saying the same thing about Gilbert and Manziel next season. And long-suffering Browns, who will remain no matter who the coach and GM are, are hoping and praying the same.
Thursday, Aug. 6 (P.M. edition) – It’s straight A’s for Johnny Manziel, as the Browns quarterback has gone from Awful to Amazing, a transformation that has been Astounding. After starting training camp with a woeful performance in which he appeared to be confused and overmatched, he has, in the last week, completely turned it around, looking extremely good, especially in the last several days. Yes, it’s early in the semester and his grades could change for the worse – even dramatically so – and he could morph back into the unproductive player he was last year as a rookie. Going into camp, everybody seemed to think that was his lot anyway, so for them, Manziel would simply be validating their setting-the-bar-very-low opinions. But then again, his grades could remain steady – after all, he was the Heisman Trophy winner as a freshman at Texas A&M, and he didn’t earn the nickname of Johnny Football by accident – and if that happened, then the club’s long-range plans would be changed, and enhanced, incredibly. The Browns have to find their franchise quarterback. They’ve been looking for one ever since they took the field again in 1999, but with no success. They tabbed Manziel in the first round, at No. 22 overall, in the 2014 NFL Draft. More than that, they traded up with the Philadelphia Eagles to get him. When a team chooses a quarterback in the first round, they think he’ll be their franchise guy. When they make a trade to do so, they expect him to be their franchise guy. But Manziel was so bad in limited chances last year and then spent the offseason in rehab That made it seem like a foregone conclusion that they’d have to go into the 2016 draft looking once again for a quarterback. When you take a quarterback, you have to wait a year or two or three for him to develop. Nobody wants to wait until 2018 or ’19 for the Browns to have a quarterback good enough to make them a contender not just in the North Division, but the AFC overall. However, if Manziel can somehow prove this season that he’s the guy – or at least has a fighting chance to be the guy – then the Browns can use their first-round pick in 2016 to fill another need, perhaps at wide receiver or tight end (are you listening, General Manager Ray Farmer?). The Browns are closer to the division’s other three teams that people think. They can match pretty well overall with the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers at 21 positions. But at the 22nd position – the most important one, quarterback – they need binoculars to see the rest of the pack. Josh McCown, who will go into the season as the undisputed starter, despte head coach Mike Pettine’s refusal to name him such just yet, isn’t the long-term guy. The Browns are hoping simply that the well-traveled veteran can be a bridge to the franchise quarterback. That bridge would be much shorter — and much easier for fans to digest — if it led to a player already on the roster. So go ahead and root for McCown because it’s time for them to start winning, but root even harder for Manziel because it’s time for the Browns to start winning for the long haul.
Friday, Aug. 7 – Fans will get a glimpse of the future when the Browns head to Columbus for tonight’s Orange and Brown Scrimmage before about 70,000 fans at Ohio Stadium. We’re talking about much more than simply the chance to see some of the young, highly-regarded players. Rather, we’re talking about the chance to see the future of training camp being held in Columbus. The Browns will be there only for tonight and then bus back home, but soon – probably beginning next year – they will be holding most of their camp somewhere in the Greater Columbus area. You can bet on it, and if there were ever any doubt about that, it was quelled by the huge demand for tickets for tonight’s glorified practice. Browns fans in Cleveland are already spitting and moaning about the prospects of their team training two hours away. That’s understandable, but those fans must also remember a few things. First and foremost, this will be a move made for money. And if you follow the trail of money, it will lead you to the answer of just about everything in life. Columbus is Ohio’s largest city. It is also located equal distance from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. There are fans of the Browns, Bengals, Steelers and Colts in Columbus, so Cleveland’s plan quite simply is to swoop into town, hold camp there and take over the city, thus doubling the team’s marketing scope. It’s a potential revenue stream the likes of which the Browns have never seen. They would be foolish not to make the move. Then there’s the fact that Browns Headquarters in Berea is a horrible place to have camp. It’s too cramped for the fans, and the sight lines are poor. Getting out of there – wherever the Browns end up – would be a step up for everybody involved. More specifically, it would be a quantum leap forward. Finally, there’s something that fans in Cleveland just don’t get – that is, the Browns belong to all kinds of places in Ohio outside of Cuyahoga County, such as Canton, Massillon, New Philadelphia, Dover, Alliance, Louisville, North Canton and Carrollton, among many others, including those near Columbus. Those fans also deserve a chance to look at the team up close and personal, and this move would afford them that. The Browns aren’t going to go to Columbus to live, but Central Ohio sure is a nice place to visit.
