00:00Chronicle Telegram, brownzone.com, where you can read all of Scott Petrack's work.
00:04And again, he joins us on the Wiseheart Right.
00:06We make it right.
00:06Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:08Scott, I'm so flustered after watching yesterday.
00:11I had you working for the wrong paper.
00:13Sorry about that, buddy.
00:15That's all right.
00:16Yeah, it was a tough one.
00:18So tell me this.
00:20There's so many different things to talk about in this loss.
00:24The thing that struck me immediately was, why did we wait so long to name a starting quarterback here?
00:31Because, boy, that offense sure looked discombobulated.
00:35It did, Jeff.
00:37I don't know if having Deshaun Watson get all the reps a month earlier would have made a difference there.
00:43I feel like there should have been enough time on task to get in and out of the huddle and
00:48get to the line of scrimmage
00:49and not have to be calling for the ball with two seconds on the play clock.
00:53And having to burn a timeout and having false starts.
00:57I just think that should have been taken care of, given the time that he had.
01:02It wasn't like he wasn't getting any first-team reps.
01:04He got half of them since April.
01:07So I don't think that's, to me, that's not an excuse or shouldn't be an excuse, a valid one.
01:13If you want to talk about timing with the receivers, I think that's something that the more time you have,
01:19the better off you are.
01:20I don't think that was a big issue yesterday.
01:22It was the other stuff.
01:24It was operational.
01:25It was Deshaun Watson throwing an interception early and turning the tide of the game.
01:30It was Deshaun Watson, I thought, not being comfortable in the pocket, which has been a pattern since he got
01:37here five years ago or four years ago.
01:40And, you know, Todd Munkin, I know after the game, said he didn't think Deshaun was rattled or tentative.
01:46I disagree.
01:47I just don't think he looks settled in the pocket anymore.
01:51And I think that's a huge problem.
01:53And I don't think that gets better in the last year of a contract when you're 31 years old.
01:59Today, by the way, happy birthday, Deshaun.
02:02Do you think Jacksonville is a Super Bowl contender?
02:06Do you think they are?
02:09I mean, I think they're a definite playoff team with a big-time quarterback who has three really good receivers.
02:18I don't know how good their defense is.
02:20I think it's the Browns.
02:22They're a tough gauge of how good somebody's defense is.
02:25I like their edge rushers.
02:28So, yeah, you know, they're certainly a playoff contender.
02:31I don't know if I'm going Super Bowl.
02:32Well, even if you – saying that, does that soften the blow a little bit from what we saw yesterday?
02:37We saw a new team.
02:38Okay, so that's my point.
02:39I mean, I do think that sometimes we look at week one and we're like – and I'm just –
02:43trust me, this isn't the way.
02:45I'm just trying to look at different angles of looking at the game yesterday.
02:48And I'm just trying to figure out maybe Jacksonville is that good and maybe that's – and we'll find out
02:53quickly if that's true.
02:54But, I mean, you do – sometimes we don't credit the other team.
02:58I think it's just because of where we live.
03:01But that's about the only thing that can make me go, okay, well, maybe we ran into the best team
03:06in the NFL.
03:06I don't know if they are or not.
03:07But, you know, I'm trying to find something to hang my hat on.
03:11I get what you're saying.
03:12I think it's important that Jacksonville is a good team.
03:15And the Browns will play lesser teams throughout the year.
03:18There's no doubt about that.
03:19And lesser quarterbacks.
03:20Trevor Lawrence was really good yesterday.
03:21Now, the Browns did not really affect him much in the pocket.
03:25Didn't do a lot to stop the receivers.
03:29In coverage, whether it's man or zone, you know, Trevor Lawrence was able to fit the ball in there
03:34whether it's tight coverage or guys are running open and that – both of those things happen repeatedly.
03:39So, yeah, it's a tough matchup.
03:41I don't think that is the excuse or an explanation for how poorly the Browns played overall.
03:47I just don't.
03:49After what we saw yesterday, what do you think of Todd Munkin's words when he named Deshaun the starter
03:55where he said he gives us the best chance to move the ball in score points?
04:00Well, I thought he was wrong then.
04:02And I think he's wrong now.
04:04Well, I think he's in a tough spot right now, guys, because obviously they wanted Watson to start at least
04:10the first two games on the road.
04:12They thought he would be better handling the operation.
04:15And if he is, then who knows how bad it would have been with Shadir Sanders because the operation was
04:20not smooth yesterday.
04:21And I don't think Deshaun Watson helped save them anything.
04:24Was not able to get him in the huddle.
04:26Well, all those things that he was supposed to be better at didn't feel like it showed up.
04:32I get that, you know, you're trying to bring along Shadir Sanders and develop him.
04:37And maybe starting two straight games on the road is difficult for a guy that hasn't played a ton in
04:42this league
04:42and is in his second new offense in two years.
04:45So I understand that.
04:46I just never, it never made sense to me to go with Deshaun Watson if it was that close a
04:51competition, which it was.
04:53So now I think Todd Munkin's in an even more difficult spot because if he, if he makes the move
05:00now, it's, oh my gosh, one week and you're going to switch.
05:04That's, that feels impulsive.
05:06It's a knee-jerk reaction.
05:07The guy hadn't started a game in 693 days.
05:12You know, you're on the road.
05:13It's week one, new coaches, all that, right?
05:15Like there's a bunch of reasons you could say it'll be better.
05:19So it would feel really like a snap decision if you went to Shadir Sanders.
05:24However, it would make, it would make your other decision look hideous.
05:28It would.
05:29And we've seen that before, right?
05:30We saw it with Charlie Fry in 2007.
05:34We saw it in 99.
05:35I started at Depp and then went to, went to the couch.
05:38In game.
05:39Right.
05:39So you've seen it before, but all of a sudden you questioned the original decision.
05:44And maybe it was, hey, we just want to see what Deshaun Watson has left in the tank.
05:49And then you saw one game ago, we're done with him.
05:52Right.
05:52We saw what we needed to see.
05:53So I could understand that.
05:56But it would feel like a snap decision to me.
05:58But the other half of that is he's deciding whether or not to make this change is if you
06:04wait for week three and the plan is, well, we're just going to start Shadir Sanders at
06:08home week three.
06:10Well, what if Watson plays well against Tampa?
06:13Then do you still make the move?
06:15Like that doesn't make any sense either.
06:16So I think Todd Munkin's in a difficult spot here.
06:20And I don't know what he will do.
06:22I think it's wise to keep Watson and then plan to go to Shadir in week three.
06:28But like I said, there's no guarantee.
06:31And what if Watson plays better?
06:32And then you're in a jam and then you're coming home and you know what the fan, the crowd
06:36reaction is going to be.
06:38So I think it's a tough spot.
06:40And they put themselves in this spot by even starting Deshaun Watson to begin with.
06:45Did you interpret what Todd said after the game the same way I did?
06:49It seemed he was very noncommittal about Deshaun and everybody else.
06:54But to me, he didn't make any commitment, you know, that this is our guy.
07:00Yeah, you know what?
07:01I think you're right.
07:02He obviously did not make that commitment.
07:04When I was listening to him, to me, it felt more like just that's what a coach says after
07:09a game, right?
07:10That he's not going to just blatantly commit to a guy.
07:14Now, sometimes you would, right?
07:16We've heard plenty of coaches be like, no, I'm not making that move.
07:18So he definitely left the door open.
07:21I didn't take it as a sign of he's certainly going to make that switch.
07:26But yeah, there was certainly a noncommittalness there, which I think is completely in play.
07:33Like we just talked about, I think there's a chance we find out today or tomorrow, Wednesday,
07:37whenever, that it's going to be Shadir Sanders in week two.
07:40I'm not saying that that's the way they're going to go, but I think the door is open
07:44for that move.
07:46What does that mean if they do that, though?
07:47Because Jeff and I were talking about this at the beginning of the show that, you know,
07:51the fact that he didn't go to Sanders during the game yesterday made me think, how much
07:56do they just have, they don't think Sanders can do it?
08:00To leave Deshaun.
08:01I thought it was a weird place to be yesterday because, you know, politically you've kind
08:06of committed, and like, I don't, this team doesn't have time to worry about people's
08:11feelings.
08:11Like if Deshaun doesn't look good, then you got to pull him.
08:15And if you're down by 30 points, what do you have to lose, right?
08:18Like Jacksonville treated it like it was a fourth preseason game yesterday by, you know,
08:24kind of taking the, when they put Nick Mullins in, I was like, well, if they're going to
08:27put Mullins in, why wouldn't we put our backup in?
08:29It's, I, I kept looking at it that way.
08:33I think there's two things.
08:34One, I had no problem keeping Watson in the game.
08:37And the guy hasn't played in forever.
08:39I think those, the more reps, the better that, that makes sense.
08:42If he's going to start week two, I think those reps helped.
08:46And then he winds up throwing a deep touchdown.
08:48So maybe he built some confidence off of that.
08:50So I don't think it was any kind of statement about Shadir Sanders.
08:54I think it was more about Deshaun Watson, but your original question, what if they make
09:00the move?
09:00What does that say?
09:01Yeah.
09:02To me, it says Deshaun Watson is done here.
09:04And I don't know how that manifests itself.
09:06Maybe he just becomes the number two.
09:09And if he needs to play because Shadir Sanders gets hurt, he plays.
09:13But I think, I think if he gets benched or maybe when he gets benched, I don't know how
09:20that's going to play out.
09:21Does he become inactive the rest of the year?
09:24I just think it's, it's such a weird spot with this contract and his history and the
09:31relationship with the fans that I don't know how that's going to play out.
09:36I can't imagine if they bench him that he's ever going to play again, unless it happens
09:41while Dylan Gabriel's on the injured list.
09:43I, I, I, right, I agree with you on that.
09:47I mean, is Taylor Green your number two for three weeks?
09:50I don't know.
09:51Plus, I also, like, if Deshaun's not playing, it's going to be, they're going to say he
09:55tweaked something or something doesn't, something's not right.
09:57Something doesn't feel right.
09:59Oh, my back.
10:00Oh, wait a minute.
10:01I'm sorry.
10:01That was Dylan.
10:01Yeah.
10:02But for two reasons, right?
10:03One, but I don't even know how that would play with insurance.
10:06Like, would you even, you know what I'm saying?
10:08Would you even turn it into insurance if it's, you know, I, you know what I'm saying?
10:13Like, in their best interest, it might be, oh, oh, insurance.
10:18Yeah, I kind of feel like that ship probably sails.
10:20They probably got as much insurance money as they're going to get.
10:22No, that's probably true.
10:23Can I, can I think that yesterday's defensive performance was an aberration against a good
10:29offensive team?
10:31Yeah, you can think that.
10:34Wow.
10:35You can think whatever you want.
10:36I'm sorry.
10:37I think I just got punched in the forehead.
10:39No, I think they're going to be, I think the defense will be better than it was yesterday.
10:44I do think the, the, it's a difficult matchup, Trevor Lawrence, those receivers.
10:48However, I think there's reasons for concern that it's not going to be a top five unit like
10:54it was last year and like it was for the totality of Jim Schwartz's three years.
10:58I played a lot of zone yesterday and I don't think that fits.
11:02So I think Mike Rutenberg has to figure out.
11:06What this team does best and how to combine that with what he wants to do and the disguise
11:11he wants to play on the back end.
11:14They got to figure out the pass rush better.
11:16They did not.
11:16I didn't think affect Trevor Lawrence nearly enough.
11:19Jared verse didn't have a quarterback hit.
11:21He talked after the game about, you know, having to, to adjust to the chips that he was
11:27getting.
11:27Well, welcome to miles Garrett's world, right?
11:30I think teams are going to, are going to approach him similarly to miles Garrett.
11:35And we all know that he got chipped a ton and was still able to be productive.
11:38So Garrett versus got to figure that out.
11:41And then they got, you know, I love their corners.
11:44I think Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell are really good.
11:46Although they gave up some plays yesterday, you know, Denzel give up that touchdown to the
11:50rookie, but it looked like early in the game, Trevor Lawrence was going after Nickelback,
11:55miles hard.
11:56And that happens in this league.
11:58And, you know, he's your third best corner out there, but they're going to have to figure
12:01out a way to, I think, give him more help.
12:05And maybe that's why they played more zone, but you know, you trust those guys on the outside,
12:09but if the quarterback keeps going off to that guy on the inside, you got to take that
12:13option away.
12:14So last thought Dylan Sampson serious, what do you think?
12:20Yeah.
12:21Anytime a guy comes back and tries, you know, he came out of the locker room and tried to
12:25warm up on the sideline and has to go back in that always alarms me.
12:30Yeah.
12:30And I feel like, okay, there's something more serious than just a bruise, but I don't know
12:36that, but I think it is cause for concern.
12:39And then, you know, they're a little thin there.
12:40Uh, you know, Sanders, Raheem Sanders had the big kickoff return, showed some explosion.
12:46They were playing, you know, and he, he was a third down back once Sampson went out early.
12:51Uh, but they'll have to add somebody to the roster if Sampson's going to miss any extended
12:56period of time.
12:57Scott, thank you, buddy.
12:59Appreciate it.
12:59Browns zone.com browns zone.com for Scott's outstanding coverage of the Browns for the
13:05Chronicle telegram.
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