Browns Team Report

INSIDE SLANT

After starting the season with Jamal Lewis(notes) as their featured back, the Browns have switched to Jerome Harrison(notes) and the season has been transformed.

The game Sunday in Cleveland Browns Stadium between the Browns and Jaguars will be a battle of small but successful backs—Harrison of the Browns and Maurice Jones-Drew(notes) of the Jaguars.

Jones-Drew, 5-foot-7, 208 pounds, is fifth in the NFL in rushing with 1,324 yards. He has scored 15 touchdowns on the ground. Eighteen teams have fewer rushing touchdowns.

Harrison is 5-foot-9, 205 pounds. He isn’t in Jones-Drew’s class, at least not yet, but he set a Browns single-game franchise record by rushing for 286 yards against the Chiefs and followed that up by rushing for 148 yards against the Raiders. After such a late start—he had 257 yards rushing through 11 games—Harrison leads the Browns with 735 yards on 161 carries and has a team-high six touchdowns. Harrison was limited in practice Thursday because of a hip injury.

The Browns will be gunning for their fourth straight victory on Sunday. The Jaguars, 7-8, are still alive in the AFC wildcard playoff chase.

“My favorite running backs are guys like Jones-Drew, (Darren) Sproles, LaDainian (Tomlinson)—guys people say are too small,” Harrison said Thursday before practice. “Then they go and perform at the level they perform at in the NFL—I really appreciate and respect what they’re doing.

“There are some advantages to being smaller. It’s hard to see me when I’m running behind Joe Thomas(notes). He’s 6-4 and huge. I’m a little guy. It has its advantages.”

The Browns are a different team with Harrison than they were with Lewis as the primary running back. Lewis, 5-foot-11, 245 pounds, was a plodder the last two years of his career. He carried 143 times and averaged 3.5 yards a carry this season before landing on injured reserve with five games to play. His longest run was 18 yards.

Lewis could muscle his way through tackles. Harrison doesn’t do that as well. He breaks open and when he does he is difficult to catch. He scored on runs of 71 and 28 yards against the Chiefs.

“J.C.’s been running hard,” said quarterback Derek Anderson(notes), referring to Harrison’s nickname. “I don’t know what exactly the number is we’ve run for, but we’ve become very effective in the running game.

“We’ve been doing well offensively, controlling the ball and making good decisions. Let the little dog run. Those guys are so small, they kind of get lost behind the 6-8, 6-7 guys. Their center of gravity is so low, you really got to get on their legs. If you hit Jones-Drew high, he just bounces off you because he has such good balance. Jerome is the same way. You kind of lose him for a second, and the next thing you know he’s past you.”

Until 2009, Harrison’s season high for carries was 34 and his season high for rushing yardage was 246, both last season. He had two career touchdowns during his first three seasons.

• When the Browns close out the 2009 season Sunday with a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they will attempt to do something no Cleveland team has done since 1986: finish with four straight victories.

Beating the Jaguars would accomplish something else: The Browns would finish 5-11, one game better than in 2008. Also, a four-game winning streak would be their longest since the franchise was restored in 1999.

If the Browns use the same approach they used to beat the Steelers, Chiefs and Raiders, they will pound the ball on the ground against the Jaguars and feature Jerome Harrison. The Browns rushed for 175 yards in beating the Steelers, 13-7, 351 yards in beating Kansas City, 41-34, and 162 yards in beating the Raiders, 23-9.

Harrison followed his 286-yard rushing effort against the Chiefs by carrying the ball 39 times against Oakland and rushing for 148 yards to help the Browns beat the Raiders, 23-9. His 39 carries is a franchise record. Last week he broke Jim Brown’s single-game rushing record.

“I really wish I could bring the whole offensive line, Lawrence Vickers(notes) and the tight ends up here to do the interviews because I’m not doing anything,” Harrison said. “They’re doing all the work and I’m getting credit for it. That’s really what’s been going on out there the last two or three weeks.”

Harrison totaled 73 carries for 434 yards, a 5.94 average, and four touchdowns against the Chiefs and Raiders. Prior to 2009, he never carried more than 34 times in an entire season and never rushed for more than 246 yards in a season. He had two career touchdowns before this year. He has scored six TDs in 2009.

“This is what you live for,” Harrison said. “It’s what you practice for. I had to sit behind Jamal Lewis, who is a great running back and one of my great friends. Jamal used to always tell me, ‘Your time will come. Just be prepared. Just keep learning and studying.’ This is just all the hard work and stuff paying off.”

About five weeks ago, Harrison walked into coach Eric Mangini’s office for a man-to-man chat. Harrison was not happy he had only 23 carries over seven weeks. Whatever was said, the light went on for Harrison.

“He’s continued to improve throughout the season,” Mangini said. “He and I talked about what I was looking for from him in practice and pass protection. Those things are really important.”

Harrison is the first Browns runner to have back-to-back 100-yard games since Lewis rushed for 118 yards against the Jets and 163 yards against the Bills on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16, 2007.

The Browns also will need Derek Anderson to play as he did against Oakland. Anderson threw six interceptions in his first five starts after throwing three subbing for Brady Quinn(notes) in the second half against Baltimore on Sept. 27. Against the Raiders, he completed 8 of 17 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, but no interceptions. He either slid to the ground or threw the ball away when he was in trouble.

“I knew the way our defense was playing, and the way we were able to run the ball, that as long as I was good and didn’t make any stupid mistakes, and put the ball in the right places, that we were going to win the game,” Anderson said.

Series History:   12th regular-season meeting. Jaguars lead series 8-3. The Browns might be better off if this game were in Jacksonville, where the Browns are 3-3 against the Jaguars. They’ve played them five times in Cleveland and lost each time.

NOTES, QUOTES

—The Browns and Jaguars were in the AFC Central in 1995, the year Jacksonville was an expansion team. When the Browns franchise was restored in 1999 they returned to the AFC Central. The Browns and Jags remained division rivals until 2002 when realignment put the Browns in the AFC North and the Jaguars in the AFC South.

• The final game the Browns played before the franchise was moved to Baltimore was in Jacksonville. The Jaguars beat the Browns 24-21 on Christmas Eve 1995 on a 34-yard field goal by Mike Hollis.

The Browns started the 1995 season 3-1 after making the playoffs with an 11-5 record in 1994. They fell apart in 1995 after the move to Baltimore was announced on November 6. Two of their losses that season were to the expansion Jaguars. The game in Jacksonville was the last one Bill Belichick coached until he took over the Patriots in 2000.

“This game typified the way our whole season went,” Belichick said after losing to the Jaguars. “Unfortunately, it’s been that type of year and I don’t have much to say about it.”

• The Browns and Jaguars played a game in 2001 that had one of the most bizarre endings of any game in the history of the NFL. The game became known as “Bottlegate” because fans hurled water bottles, plastic beer bottles and anything missile-like they could find to protest officials reviewing a play after the next play was run and overturning what had been ruled a completed pass from Tim Couch(notes) to Quincy Morgan(notes).

Referee Tim McCauley ended the game with 48 seconds left and the Browns trailing 15-10. Players scattered to their locker rooms and officials ran for cover. About 25 minutes later, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue ordered the game had to be played to its conclusion. Since the pass that was overturned was on fourth down, all the Jaguars had to do was run out the clock from the Jacksonville 9.

“I was looking over my shoulder for bottles flying,” Couch said later in the safety of the locker room. “I didn’t want to get hit by anything, so it was definitely a concern.”

Things got even weirder after the game when Browns president Carmen Policy said he was proud of Browns fans for behaving as they did. The next day he retracted that remark.

• Josh Cribbs was elected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in three years. He said he is going to take his teammates on the kick return and punt return teams to Miami as his guests.

“It’s the least I can do for a job well done,” Cribbs said. “Those guys worked just as hard as I did to get me there. I just can’t leave those guys behind. They deserve it just as much as I do. I hope that new contract comes through so I can afford it.”

By The Numbers:   6—Rushing touchdowns by Browns running backs in the last six games after 18 straight games without one.

Quote To Note:   “I know that we have a great fan base in Cleveland. They’ve been very loyal and I sense the frustration a little bit. Now we have to make them real proud of their football team again. It’s going to take hard work, but we can do this.”—New Browns president Mike Holmgren.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

One reason the Browns have been playing better since the bye is outside linebacker Kamerion Wimbley(notes) has cut down on mental errors by changing his study habits, he and coach Eric Mangini both said.

Wimbley has 66 tackles, third most on the team, and 6.5 sacks, his best production since his rookie year in 2006 when he had 11 sacks.

Sometimes this season Wimbley’s assignment has been to occupy blockers so others can get to the quarterback, which might happen Sunday when the Browns host Jacksonville. The Browns regard Jaguars quarterback David Garrard(notes) as a Ben Roethlisberger(notes) type—a quarterback with strong legs difficult to tackle. Garrard has been sacked 39 times. The Browns have 37 sacks—20 more than last season.

“I’ve been more focused on the details and knowing everybody’s role within our defense as opposed to knowing just my job within the defense,” Wimbley said. “It’s about knowing how all the parts work together to complete whatever we’re trying to do within the schemes.

“When you know what other people are doing it helps you to play faster. You know where you can expect help from so you might be able to take more chances knowing there’s a guy right here if what I’m trying to do fails.”

Player Notes  

• WR Brian Robiskie(notes) will not play against the Jaguars, Coach Eric Mangini said. Robiskie’s rookie season ends with seven catches.

• FB Lawrence Vickers did not practice Thursday because of a groin injury.

• RT John St. Clair(notes) did not practice because the ankle injury that prevented him from playing against the Raiders still bothers him.

• LB David Bowens(notes) was limited by a knee injury.

• DE Kenyon Coleman(notes) missed practice because of lingering elbow and ankle injuries.

Game Plan:   The Browns’ method during the winning streak has been simple: protect the ball and run it down the opponents’ throat. There is no reason to expect anything different when they close the season against the Jaguars.

Last week, Derek Anderson slid to the ground or threw the ball away when he was in trouble, even on third down, rather than risk an interception. It was his first game without throwing an interception this season. When the opponent has to drive 80 yards, the defense can usually come up with the stop.

Matchups To Watch:   Browns LB David Bowens vs. Jaguars LB Maurice Jones-Drew. The Browns’ run defense is facing its biggest test. Drew has scored 15 rushing touchdowns. They will have to get penetration into the Jaguars’ backfield, especially near the goal line, to stop Drew. Once Drew gets a crack of daylight he won’t go down easily.

Browns RG Rex Hadnot(notes) vs. Jaguars DT John Henderson(notes). The Browns have not been particular about whether they run left or right during the surge in their run offense; they have had success running to both sides. Hadnot will have to clear out Henderson for that success to continue.