Browns owner vows to not blow up staff

Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam made a bold statement Saturday in support of coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer.

Haslam vowed not to fire them after the 2015 season if the team doesn’t reach a certain number of wins while facing the NFL’s ninth-toughest schedule.

“We’re not going to blow things up, OK?” Haslam said after the third fullsquad practice of training camp. “I think we’re on the right track, so we’re not going to blow things up. I understand why people might ask that after a couple of bumps in the road the first couple of years, but we’re not going to do that. I think we’re putting in place a good foundation.”

The Browns had a record of 7-9 in 2014 in Pettine’s first campaign as an NFL head coach. Although the team improved its win total from the previous year by three games, it ended the season on a sour note with five consecutive losses.

Then in March, the NFL suspended Farmer for the first four games of this coming season because he badgered coaches last year with in-game text messages, a violation of league rules prohibiting electronic communication during games.

The texts also reportedly contributed to offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan resigning in January with two years left on his contract.

Jets

Rookie wide receiver Devin Smith has what the team called a “partially punctured lung,” as well as broken ribs, and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. Smith’s ribs were injured at practice Friday while making an impressive catch. The Jets later confirmed that Smith also has the lung injury.

Cowboys

Rolando McClain’s surgically repaired right knee isn’t ready for training camp, and the linebacker will miss the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.

Broncos

Returner Kyle Williams tore his left Achilles on a punt-return drill and will miss the entire season. The oft-injured Williams missed much of the offseason workouts with sore hamstrings.