I decided to look up what Eric Mangini said about Jayme Mitchell when he was acquired in October last season before he sat on the bench for 12 straight weeks. A lot of people are curious if the Browns knew that they were going to fire Mangini and switch defenses even that far back. We’ll probably never know for sure, but here is what Mangini said about Jayme Mitchell during a press conference shortly after Mitchell was acquired. My thoughts follow.
(Mangini On Jayme Mitchell)- “Jayme actually played in our first game last season from Minnesota, he had two or three pressures against us. I think he’s got good, natural pass rush ability. It’s a very different system from what he’s coming from to what we run but there’s a lot of things that we think he can help us with. I think he does a good job at the line of scrimmage in the running game and it’s a different pattern so we have to see how it fits with us. Just liked a lot of his natural ability that he brings to us. Now it’s a function of us being able to get him up to speed, get him in a role and him learning the system before we can play him.”
(Mangini On if they are bringing Mitchell in because so many players are injured)- “We are banged up at front but that wasn’t really the driving factor here. It was more an opportunity to get a young guy that we thought could develop in the system at this point in the season which you usually don’t have those opportunities and we wanted to do that and see how he could fit for us.”
(Mangini On if Mitchell has played a 3-4)- “I don’t think he’s got very much experience in it. He’s got kind of a body type where you could potentially use him as an end or stand him up and play him at outside linebacker, so there’s that flexibility that we could explore. It’s so early it’s hard to tell where he’ll end up.”
(Mangini On how the uncertainty in the defensive line’s health has affected the team)- “We’ve had to make adjustments in practices is one of the parts of it. Now the good news for young guys like Brian Sanford or Travis Ivey is they get some reps that they wouldn’t necessarily get. Brian Schaefering gets more reps, Derreck Robinson gets more reps. That helps them and it helps us because we get to see their development. Especially for those practice squad guys they get a chance to go make a case for themselves not just in the show team reps but in our reps…..”
So, regardless of conspiracy theories, one thing is clearly apparent. The front office that traded for a guy in the middle of the year and the coach who couldn’t find his name on his depth chart were clearly not on the same page. They were at least not enough of the same page in order to continue their working relationship. I am sure this Mitchell ordeal is just one small example.
Mitchell’s mysterious quotes to Tony Grossi about how assistants used to “hint” that he should just be patient is probably more indicative of those coaches sensing they were on borrowed time more than any kind of actual knowledge that they were going to be gone. We all kind of know when we are doing a good job, a bad job, or when our superiors aren’t pleased with our work.
We are talking about a deal for a guy who is outside the scheme that Mangini and Rob Ryan were running as the Browns sat 1-3 after beating Cincinnati. Remember just how bleak everything felt at that time with the Browns dropping games that many had penciled in as potential wins before the season began.
Anyway, we’ll have to wait for Mangini’s tell-all book, I guess.
In the meantime, let’s hope Mitchell really was just stuck behind some studs in Minnesota and is up to the challenge of being the Browns starting end opposite Jabaal Sheard and flanking Ahtyba Rubin and the recently signed Phil Taylor. This line may not have depth, but it would be nice if the opening game starters were worth the signatures on their contracts.
