‘Not even Dr. Seuss’ could write this tale
CLEVELAND – If Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff hasn’t had a heartto-heart in the last few days with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski about a team successfully fighting to overcome injuries, it should happen as soon as possible.
Coaches and players of all sports at all levels ought to emulate how the 2023 Browns have repeatedly responded to being short-handed.
Everyone preaches the importance of “next man up,” but few teams actually buy into the mantra to the degree Stefanski’s Browns clearly have this season.
In the aftermath of the Cavs recently losing point guard Darius Garland for at least a month due to a broken jaw and forward Evan Mobley for approximately six to eight weeks because of arthroscopic knee surgery, Bickerstaff would be wise to pick the brain of Stefanski for any ounce of relevant insight.
The secret sauce proved to be a winning recipe again when the Browns rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the visiting Chicago Bears 20-17 on Dec. 17.
With three regular-season games left, the Browns are 9-5 and will almost certainly advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 if they capture one more victory. They’re positioned for the AFC’s fifth seed – the first wild-card spot – after surviving a Hail Mary pass the Bears (5-9) nearly caught with time expired in the fourth quarter.
A road game against the Houston Texans (8-6) is on deck, followed by the New York Jets (5-9) at home and the regularseason finale at the Cincinnati Bengals (8-6).
The Browns have prevailed with a game-winning score in the final two minutes of regulation a franchise-record five times this season, according to ESPN Stats & Info. This time, Dustin Hopkins made a game-winning 34-yard field goal with 32 seconds remaining. He has four game-winning field goals this season.
“We’ve literally been through it all with injuries and everything else,” Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said. “So this is just another step in our journey, another opportunity for us to write a very peculiar but great legacy.
“Who could have wrote this story? I mean, not even Dr. Seuss. It doesn’t get more abstract than what we’ve gone through. But hell, we’re making the most of it, having fun with it and, man, you’ve just got to be blessed that you’re even on
this roller coaster.”
Quarterback Joe Flacco is the 38year-old father of five sitting at the front of the roller-coaster train with both arms in the air. Last week, the Browns became the eighth team since 1950 to have four starting QBs each win in a single season and the first to do so since 2015.
But this goes way deeper than Cleveland winning five games started by Deshaun Watson, one by P.J. Walker and another by rookie fifth-round draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson before earning back-to-back victories with Flacco.
Of the 11 Browns players on injured reserve, five entered this season as starters: Watson (shoulder surgery), running back Nick Chubb (two knee surgeries), right offensive tackle Jack Conklin (knee surgery), left offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee surgery) and safety Grant Delpit (groin surgery).
Watson, Chubb, Conklin and Wills won’t return this season. Conklin has been out since the Sept. 10 season opener. Chubb last played Sept. 18, Wills on Nov. 5 and Watson on Nov. 12. Watson
had also missed three games before his last appearance.
The Browns have left the door open for Delpit to possibly return in the playoffs. He was hurt last week in a 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Also on IR are rookie fourth-round pick Dawand Jones, who had become a reliable starting right tackle in Conklin’s absence, safety Rodney McLeod Jr. and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II. McLeod and Hurst had given the defense valuable depth. Jones, McLeod and Hurst are out for the season.
The list of inactive players for the Bears game included starting safety Juan Thornhill (calf ), starting linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. (knee), starting center Ethan Pocic (stringer) and No. 3 defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo (pectoral).
Starting cornerback Denzel Ward (shoulder) had a part-time role in his first game back from a three-week absence.
All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio (back) exited the action with 6:08 left in the opening quarter and didn’t return. Bitonio being sidelined meant right guard Wyatt Teller was the only starting offensive
lineman from the beginning of this season still playing for the Browns.
“You have to trick your mind into thinking that it’s not that big of a deal, even though it might be,” Flacco said.
A new Cavs minority owner, Garrett (shoulder) and running back Jerome Ford (wrist) are among many Browns players pushing through injuries. Center Nick Harris and defensive end Za’Darius Smith were examined by medical personnel late in the game but returned.
It’s the NFL, so injuries are baked into the game.
Still, this is a rare amount of them for one team to endure. It’s even more unusual for a team this depleted to prevent a season from being derailed.
The ingredients include quality teaching by Stefanski, but also by his assistant coaches who have ensured backups are ready. The players involved, of course, deserve credit for answering the bell when their front-line counterparts are out. And several injured starters have committed to providing leadership while idle.
One recent example is Bitonio. With
his back tightened, he remained on the sideline and offered his replacement, Michael Dunn, pointers throughout the rest of the game.
The Bitonio situation is a microcosm of a tight-knit locker room.
The Browns forging ahead despite all of their injuries points to camaraderie and trust among players being monumental factors.
Flacco agreed there’s something to this educated guess.
“It goes hand in hand,” he said. “It’s like you have to have that mindset, but also when you’ve had success doing it, when you’ve gone out there and proven to yourself and to your teammates that we’ve done it ... it helps the next time that it happens. The next man up has already seen two other, three other guys go in there and do it and step up, so he’s like, ‘OK, why not me?’ ”
The O-line wasn’t the only position group in flux during the game. The cornerbacks were often rotated, and rookie fifth-round pick Cameron Mitchell made one of the game’s most vital plays when he tripped up Bears quarterback Justin Fields on fourth down to begin the final quarter with a turnover on downs at the Cleveland 33-yard line.
Mitchell’s close friend and fellow cornerback Greg Newsome II pointed out the coaches believe in the backups, too, and cater to their strengths. Dunn said the faith the offensive linemen have in one another is more important than cohesion obtained by familiarity with each other’s footwork.
What a difference a year can make, right?
Last season, the Browns unraveled amid chemistry issues. Stefanski made a concerted effort to address those with team-building trips to The Greenbrier in West Virginia for part of training camp and Los Angeles between Week 12 and 13 road games against the Denver Broncos and Rams.
The Browns lost to the Broncos and Rams, but some Cleveland players opined the team became closer during its California experience, which included practices at UCLA and a pep talk from NBA legend Jerry West.
Since they returned to northeast Ohio, the Browns are 2-0 – part of their 7-1 home record this season.
Bickerstaff and Stefanski have a relationship they keep mostly behind the scenes.
The 14-12 Cavs defeated the Atlanta Hawks at home Dec. 16 in their first NBA game since the Garland-Mobley news hit. As Bickerstaff ’s men attempt to keep their season afloat, Stefanski and the Browns are delivering the perfect example to follow.