CLEVELAND BROWNS

            PRESS RELEASE
 
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Cleveland Browns Communications Department

Ken Mather, Manager · Amy Palcic, Coordinator · Nathan Boudreaux, Coordinator · Matthew Carson, Intern

 

www.clevelandbrowns.com · 76 Lou Groza Blvd., Berea, Ohio 44017 · Phone: 440-891-5000 · Fax: 440-891-5010

 


Each Thursday the Browns will send out “Browns Bits” with updated news & notes, transactions and quotes as a supplement to the weekly release.

   

INJURY REPORT

 

CLEVELAND:  DOUBTFUL: LB Barry Gardner (Groin); QUESTIONABLE: OL Ryan Tucker (Quadriceps), DL Gerard Warren (Pectoralis)

 

CINCINNATI:      OUT: CB Rashad Bauman (Achilles),  S Rogers Beckett (Concussion), WR Peter Warrick (Shin); QUESTIONABLE: S Kim Herring (Foot), S Kevin Kaesviharn (Back), DE Carl Powell (Knee); PROBABLE: DT Matthias Askew (Knee), C Rich Braham (Knee), DE Duane Clemons (Chest), CB Reggie Myles (Groin)

                                               

NEWS & NOTES

 

BENGALS AND BROWNS INFINITe COMMONALITIES: The Browns and the Bengals started their storied rivalry with the Browns defeating the Bengals 30-27 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on October 11, 1970 in the first battle of Ohio. It has been 25 seasons since then and the teams have never been closer. The Browns lead the series with a 32-29-0 mark. The Browns are 19-11 at home against the Bengals. In the 61 games between the teams only 19 point separates the Browns (1,239) from the Bengals (1,220). Both Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis and Browns Head Coach earned their first professional victories in this rivalry. Browns Head Coach Butch Davis defeated the Bengals 20-7 (9-15-02) and Marvin Lewis defeated the Browns 21-14 (9-28-03).

SIMPLY THE BEST:  Two of the three best passing yard games statistically for Browns QB Jeff Garcia have come against the Bengals. In his two career starts he has thrown for five touchdowns and only one interception and 781 yards. He had his career best in passing yards against the Bengals on Dec. 12, 1999 when he passed for 437 yards. His third best passing day of his career came just last year when he passed for 344 yards and two touchdowns at Cincinnati on Dec. 14, 2003.  

His quarterback rating for his two career games against the Bengals is 117.0. Garcia also has a very high passer rating at home this season for the Browns. In leading the Browns to a 2-0 record at home Garcia has a passer rating 105.3. He has not thrown an interception at home this season.

BENGALS LEAD THE CENTURY CLUB: Since the Bengals entered the league in 1970 the Browns have had 10-100-yard rushers in those games (See table listed below). The most versus any team in the league since 1970 including RB Lee Suggs 186-yard (7.2 avg.) 26 carry performance against the Bengals on Dec. 28, 2003, the last game of the season. The Bengals currently have the 32nd ranked rush defense in the NFL.  If Suggs breaks the century mark this weekend against the Bengals it would be the first time that a Browns running back has had back-to-back games against the Bengals since Greg Pruitt in 1978.

DATE

PLAYER

CARRIES

YARDS

DATE

PLAYER

CARRIES

YARDS

12/28/03

Lee Suggs

26

186

12/17/78

Greg Pruitt

22

182

12/17/95

Earnest Byner

31

121

9/10/78

Greg Pruitt

22

120

12/13/87

Kevin Mack

27

133

10/31/76

Greg Pruitt

18

124

11/24/85

Kevin Mack

14

117

11/23/75

Greg Pruitt

17

121

10/21/79

Mike Pruitt

19

135

12/05/71

Leroy Kelly

23

127

               

DAWSON’S PACE: If Phil Dawson continues his current scoring pace, he will set the Browns’ single-season scoring record currently held by Jim Brown (126 points, 1965). With 40 points through five games, Dawson is on pace to record 128 points. His career high is 100, set in 2002. Having kicked 11 field goals through five games, Dawson is challenging Matt Stover’s single-season team record of 29 field goals.

 

With 421 career points, Phil Dawson surpassed WR Gary Collins (420) for seventh on the Browns’ all-time scoring list last weekend with his extra point conversion in the fourth quarter at Pittsburgh. He is five field goals shy of 100 in his career.

 

AND THE ROCKET’S RED GLARE, THE BALL BOOTED IN AIR: Shannon Dawson, wife of Browns kicker Phil Dawson, will sing the national anthem at the Bengals’ game this Sunday. This is the 6th time that Shannon has performed the national anthem. In her previous five renditions of the National Anthem, K Phil Dawson is 11-of-13 on field goal attempts and the Browns have a 3-2 record when she sings the national anthem.

 

CONDI COMES TO VISIT: Dr. Condoleezza Rice, United States National Security Advisor, made an appearance at the Browns’ practice on Thursday afternoon. Dr. Rice was a provost at Stanford University when current Brown DT Amon Gordon was a freshman. “When I was a freshman, she used to be in the weight room all the time in the morning when we had freshman workouts,” said Gordon. “She was a great supporter. She helped out a lot with the football program. She went to football recruiting luncheons and supported us.”

 

Gordon worked for a program that Dr. Rice created called Center for a New Generation. “It was a great program that she created that helps underprivileged youth in the community.”

 

Rice is a life long browns fan from Birmingham, Alabama. “The team that we got the most often in Birmingham was Cleveland in the days of (Head Coach) Paul Brown and RB Jim Brown. So, I became a dyed in the wool Cleveland Browns fan, said Rice.”

 

BBW Pep Rally at the Grille at Cleveland Browns Stadium: Every Saturday before a Browns home game, the Browns Backers host a Saturday Night Pep Rally at The Grille at Cleveland Browns Stadium from 5-7 p.m. Former Cleveland Browns player Al “Bubba” Baker and other Browns Backers fans at the party on Saturday to watch college football games, enjoy drink specials and win special prizes. A raffle will be conducted during the rally with half of the proceeds being donated to the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund.

 

BROWNSTOWN 24/7: Want access to the Browns like never before? Want to be on the field, in the lockerroom, and in the huddle? Brownstown 24/7 gives fans unprecedented access! Coach Butch Davis is wired for sound every week as he takes fans behind the scenes for the Browns preparation of a game. Brownstown 24/7 takes the helmets off and introduces you to players away from the field. Catch Brownstown 24/7 Saturday nights at 7:30 p.m. on WOIO Channel 19 or Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. before kickoff. This week’s episode feature a recap of the week after the Pittsburgh game, a feature on RB Lee Suggs, an update on TE Kellen Winslow and a piece on Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

 

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Head Coach Butch Davis

(On the Cincinnati week)-“It is an important week for us for several reasons. It is a divisional game. It is a chance for us to get back to 2-1 in the division and with Cincinnati being an in-state rival it carries a certain amount of significance, but I don’t think that it carries anymore significance than it is a division game. It is a chance for us to stay undefeated at home and get back to .500. It is a very important ball game.”

 

(On the importance of playing well at home)-“To be in a position year in and year out to make the playoffs, you have to do well at home. We have done well on the road in the past which is kind of surprising, but hopefully it is a byproduct of the team gaining confidence at home. The fans have been awesome. You couldn’t ask for any better fan support. They have been into the game. They have been vocal and forced the other team to call timeouts because of the noise factor. They (opponents) have struggled with audibles and procedure penalties and that is what home field advantage is all about. You then have to go out there and do your part to win. Hopefully, we can keep that thing going.”

 

(On Cincinnati having an advantage with having a bye week last weekend) – “They should because no one was injured last weekend. It gives them a longer chance to take a look at our team.”

 

(on splitting the carries between RB William Green and Lee Suggs) – “Ideally we would like to have the share the load, but it is anybody’s guess. We will do whatever it takes to win. If one guy is hot, he will get the lion share of the playing time.”

 

QB Jeff Garcia

(On his confidence level now versus the beginning of the season) – “I am still confident. I still come in every single week upbeat and trying to make myself better. I am trying to get things to work the right way by learning and improving myself as far as how I can make better decisions and put our team in better situations. I am still very positive that those things can happen because I see those things taking place on game day. I see where I can make adjustments and make myself better. I am not saying that I am playing bad football, but I know that there are times in a game where I can make different decisions. If I make those different decisions it might keep a drive alive, it might give us an opportunity in the red zone. That is the focus that I have as far as trying to be better for this team. I am not going to say that I need an extra two seconds protection or this or that. I am going to look at myself and make the adjustment in order for this to work. That is really what I want to do for this team.”

 

(On getting the running game going) – “With this team, it is important to establish the running game. It is important to get RB William Green or RB Lee Suggs involved in the game. What happened last week was a situation where we were down and pretty much had to avoid the running game. We never really got into a rhythm as far as an offense is concerned with being a balanced attack. Hopefully, it will be a different story this week with game not starting off quite the way it did against Pittsburgh and we can give the running backs opportunities to carry the ball to establish the running game and then build off of the running game.”

 

OL ROSS VERBA

(On the tandem of running backs here in Cleveland) – “We are 14th in rushing offense. Those guys are just tag teaming defenses. Our running game unlike in the past is not an issue, we can get 100-yards pretty easily. Last week, we didn’t even run the ball in the 4th quarter and we had 98 yards.”

 

(On the importance of getting back to 500) – “It is important for us to get back to 500. It is important for us to put some games in a row and be 5-3 or 6-3. We need to start making a move here. In the NFL during the first five or six weeks anything can happen, you definitely don’t want to be 0-6. You would like to be 6-0. If you are 3-3, that is a win. We are making some changes up front.”

 

OL MELVIN FOWLER

(On Flavor Flav of rap group Public Enemy and the TV show ‘The Surreal Life’ wearing his jersey on the TV Show) – “He has been a friend of my family for a long time. He has been friends with my brother and sister for a long time, so I gave him a jersey. I knew Flavor from this season of the Surreal Life and I knew Brande Roderick (former Playboy Playmate of the year 2001) from the previous season of ‘The Surreal Life’. I wonder who is going to be the next person on the show that I know.”

 

DB EARL LITTLE

(On the Pepto Bismol he was sent by Bengals WR Chad Johnson) – “I know Chad.. We’re both from Liberty City, Fla. That’s just his personality. He has everything you’d want in a receiver. He wants the ball, and he’s very vocal about it.”