The bad news Browns
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
In Cleveland there are the Cavaliers, who won the NBA championship; the Indians, who have a seven-game lead in the American League Central; and then there are the Browns, who can’t catch a break.
Since the organization's founding in 1999, they have only made the playoffs once, in 2003 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns have been the epitome of losing in the NFL. It is hard to be so bad for 17 years. There has to be some bad luck involved somewhere along the lines.
It is clear that 2016 has been very unlucky for the Browns so far. They have had injuries to quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown and rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman.
Griffin, who signed a two-year contract with the organization in the offseason, was probably the most notable of the three to get injured. In his first game, Griffin injured his non-throwing shoulder, fractured his bone, and was put on injured reserve by the Browns. After a stellar rookie season in 2012 where he took the Washington Redskins to the playoffs, he failed to play at such a high level.
The Browns were hoping that Griffin would regain his groove when he had a 75.63 total QBR. There were promising signs in the preseason that he could return to his rookie form from some of the throws he was able to make, especially to Terrelle Pryor. However, because Griffin’s injury the Browns will have to wait a while to see what they have with him.
Once Griffin went down, Josh McCown came into the game for the Browns. McCown is a journeyman who has been with six different teams in his career and is in his second season with the Browns.
Last year in eight games he threw for 12 touchdowns 263.6 yards per game. McCown was not flashy but was a good game manager in the NFL. McCown injured his shoulder in Week Two this season and forces the Browns Cody Kessler at quarterback, who is a rookie out of USC. This is a pretty big drop at quarterback from an average veteran to an unproven rookie.
Lastly, the Brown first-round pick, Corey Coleman broke a bone in his hand in practice on Wednesday. Coleman was one of the bright spots on the team, who had 104 receiving yards and a touchdown in Week Two. If that was not bad enough, Josh Gordon, who has only played five games since 2014 because of various violations of the substance abuse policy, was in trouble with the law because he did not take a paternity test and an arrest warrant was filed for Gordon. The warrant was rescinded after taking the test on Wednesday, but Gordon’s history with the suspension makes everyone hold their breath.
Even though the 20016 season is only two weeks old, it has already been injury-riddled for the Browns. First-year head coach Hue Jackson will have his work cut out for him after losing so many offensive players so far. It looks like 2016 is just not the Browns year, just like every other year.
