BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski spoke with Myles Garrett Monday about comments he made following Sunday’s 45-7 loss at New England.
Following the game Garrett lamented the lack of adjustments made by defensive coordinator Joe Woods but did not name Woods specifically.
“Any time you have a game like that, there is a lot of frustration,” Stefanski said Monday afternoon. “I have spoken to Myles about that, and I will keep that conversation between Myles and myself.”
The Browns gave up three touchdown drives of over 90 yards to the Patriots in the 38-point loss, the worst under Stefanski and fourth worst since the franchise returned in 1999.
“Win, lose or draw, you always want to properly react,” Stefanski said. “You want to make sure anything that came up short, you want to own it and understand why. As we all know, sometimes you win those games and there is something you did not do so well, and you can’t let that slide.
“Even after a win, you have to make corrections. That is what today is about. That is what Mondays are always about: owning it, learning from it and then we have to move on.”
Linebacker Anthony Walker didn’t feel Garrett was taking a shot at anyone specifically.
“I think Myles is more so speaking as the whole team, we did not play well,” Walker said Monday. “I think that was his main thing. We did not play well enough as players. Obviously, coaches are going to say they could have done some things differently. At the end of the day, we lost the game. We have to flush it and move on.
“Myles at the end of the day is a leader. He probably would be a captain if we had captains. Everybody looks up to him. He understands that. He owned it himself. We all own it. We all played a part in this loss, and we have to fix it.”
Stefanski acknowledged the need to improve in-game adjustments.
“Again, you give up 45 and you score seven, we just did not have a good enough plan, we did not make enough adjustments and we did not play well enough,” Stefanski said. “It is all the above when you get beat.”
Garrett wasn’t the only defender critical of Woods’ gameplan Sunday evening.
Safety John Johnson III said the Patriots did their homework and beat them with plays they failed to defend well earlier this season.
“I do not know specifically what John is referring to,” Stefanski said. “I think it is true in football when it comes to defense and when you struggle with a particular play, it keeps showing up until you stop it. That is the copycat part of this league. There are things that we have to identify and fix for sure. To specifics, I do not know exactly what John is talking about.”
Playoffs underway – At 5-5, the Browns are in danger of missing the playoffs. They are the No. 11 team in the conference and the only contender they own a tiebreaker over is Denver. That’s it.
“We can’t ride the wave of emotion,” Walker said. “We have to stay locked in on the process. Everything is still out in front of us – our division, the playoffs and everything like that – but we can’t focus on that right now. We have to focus on getting better, fundamentals, details, getting to the practice field on Wednesday and cleaning it up and then going 1-0 this week against the Detroit Lions.”
The 0-8-1 Lions are the only sub-.500 and non-playoff contender remaining on the schedule and time is running out to turn the season around after losing four of the last six games.
“There’s a lot of talking that we can do, but at the end of the day, you have to do it,” Walker said.
Back-to-back games against the 6-3 Ravens followed by the 5-4 Raiders at home, a trip on Christmas to Green Bay where the Packers are 8-2 then to Pittsburgh for the 5-3-1 Steelers before the finale at home against the 5-4 Bengals await.
“We’re in the playoffs now,” Walker said. “If you want to be a playoff team, your playoffs just started earlier. We start it now. So, we’re a playoff team right now and we’ve got to play every game like it’s a playoff game.”
Consistently inconsistent – the Browns are the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team. One week they’re hot, the next ice cold. Just took to the last two games as all the evidence you need.
Stefanski sees it himself yet doesn’t have an answer as to why.
“That is a very good question,” Stefanski said. “That is the frustrating part because we are way, way too inconsistent as a team right now. I have seen it. I have seen some good moments from our offense, from our defense and from special teams.
“I do not think there is any magic wand when it comes to that. I think we just have to identify and then work at it so that we can play to our full potential.”
Hunt TBD – Stefanski isn’t sure if running back Kareem Hunt would return to practice this week. He’s missed four games on injured reserve due to a calf injury.
“We’ll see over the next couple days as we go,” Stefanski said. “He’s progressing, he’s working through this rehab, so we’ll see.”
COVID update – Stefanski also did not have an update on the five players that were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week, including running back Nick Chubb.
“As you can imagine, we’re hopeful but we’ve got to let the process play out,” Stefanski said.
Injury report – Cornerback Troy Hill was released from the hospital Sunday night and is traveling back to Cleveland Monday. He was diagnosed with a neck sprain. Receiver Anthony Schwartz and cornerback A.J. Green are in the concussion protocol.
Up next – Players off Tuesday, practice Wednesday.