Sometimes you have to pick your poison.
Sometimes is now for Browns head coach Hue Jackson and the team’s executive vice president of football operations, Sashi Brown.
It’s no secret that they inherited a fixer-upper when the were hired seven months ago. The Browns had issues everywhere – not enough of this, too much of that.
And so it goes.
That’s what eight consecutive losing seasons will do for you.
In that kind of situation, then, there’s absolutely no way to fix everything in one year. There’s too much that needs to be done. There are not enough draft picks or money in free agency – at least money that can be spent wisely.
As such, you do as much as you can and then you pray or cross your fingers, or both.
That’s what Jackson and Browns did – that is, what they could.
Jackson and Brown decided that offense was the side of the ball that they were really going to attack first, and so that’s what they did, especially at quarterback, where former General Manager Ray Farmer botched the draft, and wide receiver, a position he ignored in the draft.
That was a great decision by Jackson and Brown. Why?
Because offense is the name of the game now in the NFL. If you can’t score a good amount of points, then you can’t win consistently.
And while the Browns aren’t setting the world on fire offensively though the first two preseason games this year, and they still have a long, long way to go, it is clear that they have made some strides, especially with big plays in throwing the ball, which is a critical part of the equation.
The defense? Not so much.
The Browns simply can’t stop the run, which is a problem that plagued them last season. After 2015, it didn’t seem it could get any worse. Perhaps it can, and will.
In any event, they’ll attack that monster next offseason.
Until then, hold on.
Tightly.
The Browns didn’t get into this predicament overnight, and they’re not going to get out of it overnight.
So be patient. Give this regime a chance to clean up the mess. These guys are going about it the right way – and, with a phrase we’ve used many times since they got here – the common-sense way.
