Wilbert Montgomery speaks volumes

Wilbert MontgomeryMAY 28, 2014 - BEREA, OH: Running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery of the Cleveland Browns walks onto the field prior to an OTA practice at the Cleveland Browns training facility in Berea, Ohio on May 28, 2014. (Photo by: Nick Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

Posted By: County Sports Network August 13, 2015

Wilbert Montgomery speaks volumes – Browns Daily Dose with Steve King

Note: This post was originally published on 8-13-15

Sunday, Aug. 9 (PM) – The best story of Browns training camp thus far, other than, of course, the obvious, which is the continued development of quarterback Johnny Manziel? It came Sunday with running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery’s harsh criticism – and deservedly so – for his players. Montgomery minced no words. He’s fed up with the lack of commitment, desire and dedication, and also the abundance of injuries concerning his three top runners, Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson. The injuries, he claims, came as a result of players not reporting in good physical condition.

Montgomery wants someone – anyone — to be man enough, tough enough, hard-working enough and persevering enough to win the job as the go-to back. No one has stepped forth to do that just yet, but all three, in one form or another, have stepped away from it. No, make that taken quantum leaps away from it. And that’s not good. The Browns have to run the ball for their offense to work – for their team to work – and it’s not going to happen with the players the Browns have had to sign off the street to take up the slack. They were on the street for a reason. You’re not going to find Jim Brown or Earnest Byner there.

Kudos to Wilbert Montgomery, the best running backs coach, and one of the best assistant coaches overall, the team has had since its return to the field in 1999, for calling out their manhood in public. It needed to be said, and the hard-nosed, no-nonsense Wilbert Montgomery, a rugged and very productive between-the-tackles runner for eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles back in the day, was just the guy to do it. We’ll see if Johnson, Crowell and West heed his words and get going, or not.

But in the meantime, perhaps the Browns should get going themselves to correct the problem. They can’t just wait around on those three. It is time to do something we discussed here the other day, and that is to seriously consider signing free-agent running back Ray Rice. Rice was let go by the Baltimore Ravens after a highly-publicized domestic violence incident. Before that, he was considered a model citizen. Montgomery should know what the real story is with Rice, for he was his position coach in Baltimore immediately before coming to Cleveland last season. We are a country in which people are given second chances. And no one gives more second chances than those running pro sports. Maybe the Browns should dole out a second chance to Rice, who would become the guy in Cleveland. After all, the Browns continue to give second-year pros Crowell and West second, third and fourth chances (Johnson is a rookie). The clock is ticking on the regular season. The preseason opener is Thursday night.

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