Browns vs Jaguars Pregame Report
Cleveland welcomes the Jacksonville Jaguars to Cleveland Browns Stadium for a battle between two of the AFC's best. We get you set for this Week 14 matchup.
Transcript
00:00 [WHISTLING]
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00:08 Well, hey, good morning, everybody,
00:12 and welcome to Cleveland Browns Stadium
00:14 for your Browns Pre-Game Report on Browns Digest.
00:16 It is cold.
00:17 It is gray.
00:18 It's a little breezy.
00:19 But all things considered here in December, not too bad at all.
00:22 Huge matchup today between the Cleveland Browns
00:25 and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
00:26 Major playoff implications at stake for a team
00:29 that at one point looked like it definitely
00:31 could be one of the top teams in the AFC.
00:34 Maybe a little bit more questionable
00:37 now with Jacksonville.
00:38 And then you've got a Browns team
00:39 that is certainly good enough to make the playoffs.
00:43 At one point at 7-3, looked like easily one
00:46 of the best teams in the NFL.
00:48 Losing the last couple of weeks hasn't
00:49 sat quite as well with the team and the fan base.
00:52 But at 7-5, still squarely in the mix for an AFC wildcard
00:55 spot, and certainly hoping to make quite a statement
00:58 this afternoon.
00:59 Brendan Gulick with Anthony Meglin.
01:01 Anthony, all quarterback talk leading into this one
01:04 because both teams have fluctuating quarterback
01:07 situations coming in.
01:09 Cleveland Browns have not named a starting quarterback yet,
01:11 although the expectation is that Joe Flacco is going to start
01:14 and that DTR, assuming he is healthy enough to play,
01:17 he's cleared concussion protocol.
01:19 Everything looks fine.
01:20 I wouldn't be surprised if he gets
01:22 into a special package or two somewhere along the way today.
01:25 Trevor Lawrence on the other side,
01:27 obviously dealing with a high ankle sprain.
01:29 He's a game time decision.
01:31 The other couple quarterbacks on Jacksonville's roster
01:33 are warming up right now.
01:34 I'm sure Trevor will get out there
01:36 and try to give it a go.
01:37 But I think the Browns have to be prepared for Lawrence
01:39 to play.
01:40 Absolutely.
01:41 Starting on the Browns side of things,
01:43 the last time we were in this stadium,
01:44 remember it was a beautiful day.
01:46 The sun was shining.
01:47 It was the end of November.
01:47 This is more what it's like.
01:49 It's going to look kind of gray behind you.
01:50 It looks like we may get some weather.
01:52 It's going to be windy.
01:53 It's exactly what you want.
01:54 And Joe Flacco, if he is the guy--
01:56 he talked earlier this week about how not only does
01:59 Cleveland feel like football with just the way
02:01 it's grass field, it's cold, it's old school,
02:04 the fans are into it.
02:05 But just even beyond that, how important
02:08 this is, a late season game that has serious playoff
02:12 implications.
02:12 And you're excited about it.
02:13 Flacco's been nothing but successful in Cleveland Browns
02:16 Stadium.
02:16 He's 9 and 2 as a starter.
02:18 He's averaging just around 225 yards.
02:20 He's thrown 15 touchdowns, six interceptions.
02:23 So he certainly feels right at home in Cleveland Browns
02:27 Stadium right behind you.
02:29 And you feel good.
02:30 If he is the guy who goes, you feel really good about it.
02:33 Because last week in his first start, it looked solid.
02:37 There's some stuff we wanted back.
02:38 You obviously want that interception back.
02:40 But also, too, consider this is his first game in a year.
02:43 He was sitting on his couch three weeks ago.
02:45 So he's going to improve and show that improvement
02:47 if it is him today.
02:49 Then on the flip side of things, Trevor Lawrence
02:52 being injured and even just being hurt,
02:54 it feels like he's trying to play.
02:56 He's never missed a start, 46 straight starts
02:59 for Trevor Lawrence.
03:00 Never missed a game.
03:01 And this could be one where if he is unable to go,
03:04 that would be certainly a shock to the Jaguars.
03:06 But if he is able to go, he's not going to be 100%.
03:10 And you take him out with Christian Kirk being out
03:12 and then being down, they're right tackled.
03:15 That's going to play a factor.
03:17 So the cliche storyline is the quarterbacks.
03:20 But today, it certainly is a story
03:23 about which quarterback is going to show up and perform the best.
03:27 And in terms of Jacksonville's depth,
03:30 I actually think they've got a really good receiving core.
03:33 And yeah, Christian Kirk is out.
03:34 But the reality is they're a lot better than just that one player.
03:39 I think Ridley's got to step up today because he's good enough.
03:42 He just hasn't been very consistent this year.
03:44 So Jacksonville's certainly looking for a bigger day out
03:47 to him, where I think the Browns are going to find out early
03:52 in this game if they have a good advantage in one key spot.
03:57 It's going to be Miles Garrett against Ezra Cleveland, who
03:59 is a guard by trade playing tackle with an injury
04:02 a tackle against a guy who hasn't played tackle
04:06 since he was in college.
04:07 And I'm sure Ezra Cleveland is capable of handling the job.
04:12 But the shoulder injury to Miles Garrett last week,
04:16 I don't want to say that he was a decoy.
04:18 He played OK.
04:19 Certainly didn't play like what we know Miles Garrett's
04:22 capable of playing.
04:23 So to me, there's this element of, hey,
04:25 you've got a superstar defensive player who's not 100%,
04:29 but you're going against a guy who's out of position.
04:31 Can you exploit that, especially given the quarterback situation
04:35 Jacksonville's dealing with?
04:37 I hope Miles Garrett can have a huge day today.
04:41 And I know you always hope that.
04:43 But especially today, that could be a really important piece.
04:46 I'll tell you what, I am fired up to watch this defense today.
04:49 Because the talk this week's been,
04:51 it was Jim Schwartz on Wednesday saying, hey,
04:53 we are not good enough.
04:54 Our defensive line is what this defense is built on.
04:57 We're out now two straight games without having a sack.
05:00 And I think when you peel the onion back a little bit
05:02 and really dive down into the issue,
05:04 we've been beat up in the secondary.
05:06 Getting Denzel Ward and Cam Mitchell back
05:08 is going to be massive for this team.
05:10 Because guys aren't going to be running wide open.
05:12 Quarterbacks, the quarterback, whoever it may be,
05:14 isn't going to just be able to take a quick drop
05:16 and get the ball out right away.
05:18 Because this defensive secondary is going to be much better,
05:20 which is going to equate to this defensive line being
05:23 able to get active and look like the defensive line
05:25 that we love.
05:26 I'm excited to see Miles Garrett.
05:27 I'm excited to see the rest of the group.
05:29 Bobo Ocoronco, Zedarius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson
05:32 in the middle, all these guys, let's go.
05:35 Let's look the way we used to in the beginning of the season.
05:38 And they can really control this game
05:41 and really make a difference on that defensive line.
05:44 Jacksonville's rush defense has been pretty good this year.
05:46 And obviously, the Browns have been a predominantly good
05:49 running football team throughout the year,
05:51 even though they've only had Nick Chubb for the first two
05:53 games of the season.
05:55 I anticipate that regardless of who's
05:57 playing quarterback for the Browns,
05:59 that they're going to try to establish a run early on.
06:01 But I don't really expect Flacco and/or DTR
06:05 to throw for more than 250 today.
06:07 In fact, I think the overrunner might even be pretty close
06:10 to 200 or 205 yards.
06:13 But I do like the idea, if they're both healthy,
06:16 of letting Joe be the guy and then using DTR
06:20 and some special packages just to try to change up the look
06:22 and give Jacksonville something different to think about.
06:25 Because I know there are a lot of people
06:27 that were kind of hammering Dorian
06:29 for not being good enough.
06:30 I think he's got a lot of upside.
06:32 And I'm not saying he should be the Browns starting quarterback
06:35 for the foreseeable future.
06:38 Sean Watson's the guy here.
06:39 But I kind of like DTR.
06:42 I like some of the things I've seen from him.
06:44 It's just inconsistent.
06:45 So if you can use him in little spurts
06:47 and in specific design packages, that
06:49 might be a good way to work him in.
06:51 No question about it.
06:52 And think about the situation up front
06:54 with DeJuan Jones potentially being--
06:56 or he was labeled out yesterday.
07:00 If they do get into a situation where Josh Allen is taking over
07:04 the game and really causing havoc and making
07:07 Joe Flacco uncomfortable, maybe you do see that.
07:09 And I would love it.
07:10 Just a little bit of a switch up.
07:11 We listened to Coach Stefanski on Friday
07:14 not name the starting quarterback
07:16 because he didn't have to.
07:18 And it's like, hey, how is he going
07:20 to use DTR along with Joe Flacco?
07:22 Is that an option?
07:23 I love where your head's at.
07:24 I think he should.
07:26 Because DTR does present a different set of skills
07:30 that Jacksonville has to account for.
07:33 So it's going to be awesome.
07:35 Whatever they decide to do, I think,
07:36 is going to be the right decision.
07:37 Because I think that this Browns offense,
07:39 if they have a good game plan and if it's executed well,
07:42 can really get after this Jaguar defense.
07:45 I don't want to look too far ahead.
07:46 But I feel like this is probably the hardest
07:48 game left on the schedule.
07:49 There's five games left.
07:50 And this is certainly one that the Browns can go out
07:52 and make a good statement today.
07:55 You've got a Jacksonville team that's very talented and better
07:58 than I think a lot of people expected they'd be,
08:02 at least at the beginning of the season.
08:04 They certainly have been really good on the road.
08:06 In fact, if you include the two wins in London,
08:08 they're undefeated when they've played away from home.
08:10 And right now, they lead the division in the AFC South.
08:13 So I'm not saying that this is your last best chance
08:16 to make an impression.
08:17 But when you've got the Jets, the Bears,
08:20 on two of your last four, you obviously
08:22 finish with the Bengals.
08:23 And a good Houston team, for sure.
08:25 But this is probably the best team left on your schedule.
08:27 So no reason to be shy about it.
08:30 No reason to feel like, ah, if we could just maybe have gotten
08:33 one last week, there wouldn't be as much pressure on this
08:35 this week.
08:36 You can't have that attitude.
08:37 You've got to go out and take this opportunity for what it is
08:39 and try to go beat a good team.
08:41 It's great.
08:41 It's a great opportunity to get a huge win,
08:44 not only for the standings and putting yourself almost locked
08:47 into the playoffs.
08:48 You feel really good if you get a win today.
08:50 But just prove to yourself that this Jacksonville team is
08:53 one of the better teams in the AFC.
08:55 And if you can go out and beat them on your home field,
08:57 that sends a message to everybody that, hey,
09:00 we've been injured all year.
09:01 We've dealt with ups and downs.
09:02 But hey, we're getting to crunch time.
09:04 We've got five weeks left.
09:05 And the Browns are in it.
09:06 And the Browns are ready to go.
09:07 I'm excited about it.
09:08 They get the opportunity to do it in Cleveland Browns Stadium.
09:10 They're 5-1 there.
09:12 The home field advantage is certainly a factor.
09:14 And it's going to be an awesome afternoon and a great chance
09:18 for the Browns to take one and get to 8-5 on the season.
09:21 Can't wait.
09:22 We'll see how this goes.
09:23 Kick off at 1 o'clock here in Cleveland.
09:26 And of course, we'll be with you postgame.
09:27 We'll have postgame press conferences for you
09:30 available on our Browns Digest YouTube channel.
09:32 And certainly, all the latest postgame coverage
09:34 that you'd like throughout the day with this team.
09:37 You can check out BrownsDigest.com.
09:38 Anthony and I will be back here postgame
09:40 to give you our reaction as well.
09:42 So for Anthony Meglan, I'm Brendan Gulick.
09:44 Enjoy the game.
09:44 The Browns and the Jaguars kicking off
09:46 in just a couple hours.
09:47 Enactments will be available right around 1130.
09:49 So we'll give you those when we find them out.
09:52 But again, for all the latest, keep it here
09:53 with Browns Digest.
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