Delonte West is Glad to be Back in Cleveland
September 29, 2009Kurt Coleman Suspension Revisited
September 29, 2009One of the things that we knew we were getting for sure when Eric Mangini came to town were cryptic press conferences that would yield next to no information. With that, let me go ahead and do my best to translate some of the Mangini-isms from yesterday’s presser. Be warned, Mangini was kind of verbose in saying nothing, so strap in folks. It is a long one. Also, this wasn’t every single question he was asked.
Mangini: (On if he gets a sense of how the players feel about the quarterbacks when making the decision)- “What I’m going to look at is who I think gives us the best chance to win the next game. That’s the most important thing. I think both guys did some things on Sunday that were positive. When you have turnovers, it’s hard. We have to be able to move the ball consistently. We have to be able to take advantage of opportunities that are there. That’s something we have to improve on offensively.”
Translation: I don’t care how the team feels about the quarterbacks. Why else would I have kept the QB competition going so long? Chemistry, Shmemistry. Both of these guys played like garbage. Neither QB deserves to be “named” starter here.
Mangini: (On what the team does well on offense)- “You have to look at it in a lot of different areas. Some of it’s based on personnel, in terms of the groups that we’re in. Some of it’s based on how we distribute players. Some of it’s based on how we execute plays. Some it’s based on the game planning for that specific opponent. You go through that whole process and look at the things the things that have been successful, that have generated positive plays and see which ones you can carry over week-in and week-out. You may have to build them a different way in order to get the same result, especially if it’s formation specific. You look at those and then you incorporate whatever’s going to be specific to that opponent. Maybe there’s carryover between the two, maybe there’s not.”
Translation: There is nothing conclusive to say that the offense does well. I could maybe pick out a little piece of minutiae about one player, one group of players, or one offensive set, but overall there is no phase of the offensive game that I can point to that is doing “well.”
Mangini: (On if he can name specifics that the team does well on offense)- “Yes, you’re going to go through and make the determination of if you’ve generated a certain amount of positive plays with this play, based on the percentage of times you ran it, then you’d make the assumption that that’s something you do well. You have to look at it in a little bit more of a context. Was it well executed or was it something that maybe was a pass that generated a first down, but it was based on a scramble. The pass component of that really wasn’t, necessarily, the successful thing and you don’t want to bank on scrambling to get a first down.”
Tranlsation: I think I can, but I won’t. We look at plays and make sure when we get lucky and get a first down that that play doesn’t count as being successful.
Mangini: (On if Derek Anderson throwing the ball downfield more than Brady Quinn is a result the plays called for him)- “They’re plays that we’ve run, or concepts that we’ve run over time, through training camp, OTAs and through the season. They may be built a little bit differently, so it’s not all foreign to both guys. You do look at things that each guy’s more comfortable with and you bring in that component. It wasn’t a radically different approach.”
Translation: Yes, they were slightly different, but for some reason I want you to think they are inherently the same. What does the word different really mean, anyway? We’re all humans, so in that respect we are the same.
Mangini: (On if he feels the fan’s pain)- “I think that there’s nobody happy with where we are right now. That’s across the board. That being said, now it’s doing something about it and doing something to change the outcome. That has to be deliberate and it has to be collective. It’s going to be worked on, day-in and day-out, night-in and night-out, until it’s right.”
Translation: I am not really concerned with the fans as much as I am with winning for myself.
Mangini: (On if the team is close to winning)- “I think that the position we were in, in Denver, was inherently winnable. I think that where we were in Minnesota was winnable. I think that, regardless of what the score is at halftime, you can overcome those deficits. You have to chip away at it. There’s no 20-point touchdown. There’s no magic play that can give you 20 points. You have to go out and get the first one, then make the stop and get the second one. That’s just the reality of it.”
Translation: Every game in the NFL is winnable. You have to stop the other team and score when you get those stops. (Duh.)
(On if there is more to work do than he originally thought)- “I think anytime you come into a situation and you’re putting together a program and a program that’s designed to continue to grow and build and make progress, it’s going to take time. It’s going to take effort. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take a lot of people doing that together, day-in and day-out. That’s not unique to this situation. I’ve been part of these situations before, coming into a new environment and working to get it right, New England, New York, New York again. There’s a way that you have to do things. You have to be consistent and you have to be deliberate and you have to work extremely hard every, single day to get those results. You have to build for the short term and you have to build for the long term.”
Translation: I always thought there was a lot of work to be done. I just lied to Lerner and told him that we didn’t need to blow this thing up before I blew it up anyway.
Mangini: (On if he needs to approach anything differently)- “I ask the same thing of myself and the coaches, that I ask of the players is, what can you do better that you did last week to get a better outcome. We analyze each game. We look at the things we did well, the things we did poorly, what preparation errors were, what personnel mismatches were, how we could have practiced better, how we could have implemented the game plan better, and that’s ongoing. We’ll do it at all times, is analyze it. There’s plenty that we can better, as well.”
Mangini: (On what he specifically can do better)- “I think that we’re going to have to continue to emphasis fundamentals and spend a lot of time on that, and get to some things that we can operate very effectively in and while doing that, still be able to move forward the game planning element, because that’s important. You have to be able to adjust to who your opponent is, and there’s a balance there. You have to continue to look at the best way to strike that balance, continue to look at the breakdown of practice and see how much time was spent on fundamentals and how much time was spent on scheme and where we need to adjust it. There are tons of things. I’ll look at all the different aspects and try to figure out a better way to do it.”
Translation: “What I’m trying to say is, that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”
Mangini: (On if changing quarterbacks after three games changes the ideal of consistency)- “I think one of the things about being consistent is to always try to play the best players that give you the best chance to win. Sometimes that’s what consistency is, is to make sure that guys who are on the practice squad have the opportunity to come up to the active roster. Guys who are inactive have the opportunity each week to play themselves on to the 45. That’s important. That’s important that they understand everybody needs to keep improving. Everybody who doesn’t like the position that they’re in right now, or wants to change that position has a chance each day to come in here and make a case for themselves and I believe in that. Those guys that are on the practice squad, if they want to get bumped up, make a case. Guys that were inactive, make a case. Guys that are inactive, they need to make that case each week. Do they want more playing time? Then go out and show that they deserve it. The important thing is to always have an environment where they can do that, otherwise they’ll look at it as something where, ‘It doesn’t matter what I do, I can’t change my current situation.'”
Translation: Your simplistic “definitions” of “words” mean nothing to me. If I feel like it, I will change the definition of the word consistency so that it means constant change! If constant change of QBs gives me a CONSISTENT chance of winning, then wouldn’t that be BY DEFINITION consistency? Hmm?
Mangini: (On if he takes the fact that they need to sustain offensive drives to help keep the defense off the field into consideration when making the decision)- “I think it’s important. I think it’s important not to play on a short field. It’s hard to play very effectively when you’re playing on a short field. That goes into turnovers. It goes into special teams. Defensively, the same thing as if they’re playing backed up, being able to keep them backed up. That’s part of each side helping the other side be successful. You want to be able to give the defense a chance to rest and come back and, ideally, put our offense out as quickly as we can.”
Translation: Yes.
Mangini: (On if there are any more personnel changes he is considering)- “I really look at that every week. I look at who’s practicing the best, who’s executing the best, who’s making the least amount of mental errors, who’s making the strongest case to help us that week. I’ve switched roles throughout my time as a head coach, as a coordinator, as a position coach. That’s pretty common, in terms of somebody standing out and you have to be able to reward that. You have to be able to show the players that if they perform at a level then they have a chance to play more or to get bumped up and, vice versa, get bumped down.”
Translation: Yes, but I am not going to tell you.
Mangini: (On if splitting reps at quarterback in the preseason did not allow Quinn or Anderson to develop a rhythm with the offense)- “I think the only people that didn’t get the same amount of snaps were the three and the four, that they typically during a training camp. Look at the amount of reps that Chad Pennington got when he was a starter, versus the amount of reps that both these guys got. It’s very comparable. In terms of the play time, it’s pretty comparable. I feel comfortable with the way that we split it up, with the thought, the time, the effort that went in to making sure that it was spread out the right way and working with a lot of different people and giving everybody a chance to improve.”
Translation: No. My system caused Chad Pennington to underachieve until he got to Miami, so I figured I would keep the same practice schedule on the young quarterbacks here in Cleveland. Just because Pennington never lived up to expectations with my system doesn’t mean that two different QBs won’t.
Mangini: (On if the thought of letting a young quarterback play out a season to see what they are capable of will play into the quarterback decision)- “I think you have two quarterbacks that have worked really hard, that have competed very hard, that have both made cases for themselves. Without being able to look at each situation individually, I really evaluate it based on the situation that we have. I appreciate the way that these guys have worked and competed. I like the competitiveness they’ve shown. I like the professionalism they’ve shown. With that, Mary Kay (Cabot), it’s tough to know what the other quarterback situations are, so I’m really looking at it based on our situation.”
Translation: Neither of these guys is playing well enough to be named starter, and I don’t have any particular interest in seeing Brady Quinn play for an entire season to see if he can develop.
13 Comments
Translation:
This dispansionate non-motivational player beat down Lerner hired castoff will be out within the year. Book it. (the rot from within is already starting).
BOOK IT … I’m already making a list from the last few episodes of Reading Rainbow
isis… what do you do for a living? just curious.
Isis is a former Browns head coach who used to run a ‘country club’ type training camp. I’m convinced he’s Romeo. Until i see proof otherwise, I’m convinced.
I’m not sticking up for Mangini here, merely playing devil’s advocate, but isn’t he saying basically what any coach of an 0-3 team would say, the politically correct “we just have to work harder” speeches, and they “try and get better this week than we were last week”. It just seems like it’s in the Coaches of Losing Teams Handbook.
Baltimore Sun:
“Mike Preston: The Browns are losers — from ownership all the way down to those ugly brown pants they wore Sunday. That was a loser move Sunday. I suspect Mangini will make it through the season. If he doesn’t, then it really becomes an embarrassment for ownership. In fact, because of their stupid move by hiring the only coach they interviewed, Cleveland fans might be stuck with Mangini for another season.”
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Way to stay politically correct about it, buddy. …and by the way: YOU’RE WELCOME. (for the umpteenth million time)
I thought I should post this here too…
The QB situation is only a minor problem. The real problem lies with the coaching and level of talent they put on the team. Although, I will address the QB situation.
DA is Rex Grossman. Do you remember him, he had a few great games too, and a huge arm. Problem is, he had no brain. Drop the safety, double his #1 wideout. Grossman, like DA, lit a few teams up before they figured this out watching game film. It’s over for both of them.
Brady Quinn on the other hand is a young underdeveloped QB, involved in the longest QB comp in history. Remember last year vs. Denver? He looked pretty damn good. He had (and I say this very loosely) semi-better coaching and much better talent at TE and WR then he has this year. Plus a semi-better offensive coordinator. Not to mention the lack of time he got in training camp/preseason because of Mangini’s indecision.
I’m not saying Quinn is even close to the talent of Payton Manning, but lets look at PM’s first five games. PM threw 4 TD’s and 12 picks. Colts went 3-13 and they had Harrison and Faulk. Eli Manning 600 yds 3 TD’s and 7 picks in his first five. He had Barber and Toomer. Look at Flacco and Ryan’s stats for their first 5 starts last year. Like Flacco said being on the team and actually starting NFL games are day and night from each other. YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR BUMPS AND LET A QB DEVELOP!!!!
You can win with a rookie QB, but he must be surrounded by talent. With the exception of Thomas, and the POSSIBLE exception of Edwards, the browns have no other real weapons. I’m not even going to get into how bad our draft was.
ANYONE WHO THOUGHT BQ WAS GOING TO JUMP OUT OF HIS AIR BRUSHED MYOPLEX AD, GET UNDER CENTER, EAT A SUBWAY SUB, THROW MAGICAL SHAMROCKS AT THE OPPOSITION, AND PULL THIS BUSTED ORGANIZATION OUT OF THE GUTTER, WITH LITTLE TO NO TALENT HIS FIRST YEAR SHOULD REALLY LAY OFF THE CRACK PIPE.
Things don’t work this way in the NFL, real coaches and real fans should know and understand that. I’m more than sure BQ confidence is crushed, and his carrier is probably over unless he runs out of Cleveland like he’s being chased by the police. The only upside is that this is the year to develop. The QB is only 1 piece of a 60 piece puzzle that came with 5 pieces.
Mangini, Daboll, Kokinis, must go. Lerner needs to sell or appoint a experienced Executive Vice President to higher proper coaches and personnel. Feel free to comment or attack me.
Isis is the illegitimate love child of Art Modell and Dorothy Fuldheim.
Pulling the QB at halftime, in an unwinnable game so early in an inwinnable season, means that Mangini thinks he has absolutely nothing at QB. Just a couple of guys with bookended flaws: all arm/no brain v. paralysis by analysis.
At least that better be what it means. If he really thinks Quinn is the guy, yo-yo-ing him in and out through camp and games is ridiculous, something more fitting Al Davis on the sideline than a competent NFL coach.
fire mangini
Just a reminder, the Browns’ opponents are a combined 9-0. I don’t see anybody else who can say that.
I agree with Casperxxx. There is no talent on this team outside of a few players.
it was a competitive team less than two seasons ago, has that much changed that the detroit lions are now better than us??? wtf???
Kudos – great article. New Yorkers tried to warn y’all when ownership moved so damn quickly to hire the paranoid one.