The Scores Report - The National Sports Blog » Eric Mangini

Browns considering signing LeBron James

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:47:32 +0000

…okay, not really. But LeBron did say recently that he could succeed in NFL if he put in the time and Browns head coach Eric Mangini has a helmet waiting for him if he ever wants to give it a try.

From ESPN.com:

“If I put all my time and commitment into it, if I dedicated myself to the game of football, I could be really good,” he said Tuesday night, “no matter what team I was on.”

Mangini agreed, calling James “a freak athletically” and said the 6-foot-8, 260-pounder could be dangerous at tight end, wide receiver or even outside linebacker.

Quarterback Brady Quinn also heard about James’ football fetish. He would love to have a target to throw to like James in the red zone.
“That’d be great,” Quinn said. “Tell him to suit up and let us know, we’ll get him working. Obviously he’s an incredibly talented athlete. If he wants to try to play a little bit now, we’d be more than willing to pick him up.”

Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers isn’t convinced James, as great as he is, could step into the NFL and be able to handle the pounding.
“I heard that comment,” Rogers said. “I have mixed emotions about that. A great athlete? Yes. A football player? No.”

Rogers then looked into TV cameras.

“Yeah LeBron, I said it,” he said. “It’s a punishing game. I just don’t think you can step off the basketball court after not going through this year in and year out and just play football. From that standpoint, I just don’t think it’s possible. You have to weather and condition your body to take this punishment.”

That’s all the Cavs and the city of Cleveland needs: For LeBron hurt playing for a 1-8 Browns team going nowhere fast.

Given how gifted an athlete James is, I could see him succeeding in the NFL if he put in the time. But I agree with Rogers in that he couldn’t just step onto the field this Sunday and have an impact. For starters, he’s never run a pro route and he’s never read a defense. If he was told to just run straight down the field and then look for the ball, I could see him making a play or two. But he’d be lost if he were to start a game without practicing and I could only imagine him getting laid out going across the middle.

The front office for the Cavs would rather die than see this come to fruition, but I would love to see LeBron play for just one game to see how he’d do – even if it were just for a couple of plays.

Of course, that would require Brady Quinn to throw a pass longer than three yards in bounds, which is something I seriously doubt he could handle.

Quinn, Browns give putrid effort in another putrid loss

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:09:04 +0000

Eleven first downs, 160 total yards and zero points.

After two weeks to prepare for their opposition, that’s what the Cleveland Browns produced on Monday night in a 16-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Nobody should be surprised by the outcome of Monday night’s game in Cleveland. Everyone knew that the Browns were awful entering the game, but to actually watch that miserable excuse of a team stumble over themselves for 60 minutes is rather amazing. It’s like a car wreck – you just can’t look away.

Brady Quinn is bad, so bad that it’s safe to say that he has zero chance of becoming anything resembling a decent starting quarterback in the NFL. I’m fully aware that he has no talent around him, but I dare anyone to watch that kid play for entire game and tell me he has any shot of success in this league. His own coaching staff doesn’t trust him to throw the ball further than two feet and I wouldn’t either. The Monday Night Football crew kept begging for the Browns to throw the ball vertically and whenever Quinn did, he was either picked off or was so far off the mark with his passes that there wasn’t a receiver within 20 yards of where the ball ended up.

Again, I know that he doesn’t have anyone to throw to but there’s just no excuse for being that inept. The Browns didn’t even reach the Ravens’ 40-yard line tonight and don’t forget that this was a Baltimore defense that has struggled at times this year stopping the pass. On multiple occasions late in the game when he was trying to make a feeble attempt at throwing deep, Quinn tossed the ball completely out of bounds. That means he’s so inaccurate with his throws that he can’t even keep the ball in play. He even overthrew a receiver on a screen pass, which is so mind-boggling that it pisses me off just thinking about it.

How can Cleveland trust Quinn to throw the ball vertically when he can’t even complete a simple smoke screen?

I understand that Derek Anderson isn’t much better (he might even be worse), but the Browns can’t start Quinn again after tonight. Eric Mangini might as well start Brett Ratliff or hell, even Josh Cribbs (if he’s even okay after being carted off the field on the game’s final play) because neither Anderson nor Quinn could hit Shaun Rodgers in the ass if they were standing directly behind him. And neither is capable of running the dish washer at night, let alone running an NFL offense.

I just can’t believe that the Browns had two weeks to game plan for tonight and this was the best they could come up with offensively. Defensively they played a hell of a game, but Quinn and the offense were so bad that I might petition that the league strip the Ravens of their victory because it’s not fair that they get a free win and the rest of the league doesn’t.

What a horrible, abysmal, brutal performance by one of the worst teams in NFL history. The moron that decided to put the Browns on Monday night should be forced to watch a replay of that game 100 times as punishment and then whipped repeatedly by a Brady Quinn’s jock strap.

Lewis: Mangini is wearing Browns out

Anthony Stalter — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:09 +0000

Running back Jamal Lewis suggested in a recent interview with the media that head coach Eric Mangini is wearing the 1-7 Browns out in practice.

From ESPN.com:

Lewis, who intends to retire after this season, said Thursday that he doesn’t want to be a “babysitter” to Cleveland’s younger players. He wants to win and expressed disappointment that two- and three-hour practices aren’t translating into wins for the team, which has a 1-7 record.

“There’s talent all over this locker room, young and old,” he said before practice. “There’s talent everywhere, but that talent has got to be ready for Sunday, it’s got to be fresh for Sunday. You can work all day, but if you’re going to work like that, you’re probably not going to get what you want out of your players.”

While Lewis doesn’t mind working hard, he said Mangini is wearing out his players. The team captain said he hasn’t approached his coach about making changes.

“This is his show, not mine,” Lewis said. “You got to take care of your crop. If you don’t, when it comes time to harvest, you’re not going to make no money because the crop is no good. That’s that.”

Is it just me or does it seem like the majority of players that complain about practices being too hard play on bad teams? I remember a few years back when some Lions players bitched that Rod Marinelli’s practices were too hard.

Forget about Lewis’ crying, the real story here is that yet another Browns player is complaining about the way Mangini is running his team. When a coach acts like a hard ass, treats his players like crap and still finds ways to lose on Sundays, his players are going to quit on him. And that’s exactly what’s happening in Cleveland with Mangidiot.

Mangini’s approach isn’t working and if he can’t adjust then he’s going to find his ass unemployed real soon. Nothing he’s doing or has done in Cleveland has worked.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Brady Quinn gets a second chance in Cleveland

Anthony Stalter — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:20:58 +0000

Brady Quinn won the Browns’ starting quarterback job in preseason and then promptly crapped himself as soon as the regular season started. In three starts, his average pass went less than six yards, he threw just one touchdown pass and was intercepted three times. He also had a horrific time with his decision-making and accuracy, and even when he did find ways to complete passes his receivers didn’t have a chance to make plays up field because Quinn couldn’t hit them in stride.

When Eric Mangini decided to replace Quinn for Derek Anderson, some Cleveland fans were elated because at least Anderson had the ability to throw the ball vertically. Sure, he’d throw the occasional interception or two, but at least he could run the offense better than Quinn, right?

Wrong.

Over the past couple weeks, Anderson displayed some of the worst quarterbacking this side of Drew Henson. In six appearances, he failed to throw for over 100 yards in four of those games and threw nine interceptions compared to just two touchdowns. His performance in the past month and a half deserves to be mentioned in the Epic Failure Hall of Fame (EFHoF).

Facing little to no choice given Anderson’s all-around suck, Mangini has decided to go back to Quinn and start him against the Ravens on Monday night. If Quinn doesn’t realize that this may be his final shot to impress in Cleveland, he should. Because if/when Mangini is fired at the end of the season there’s no guarantee that Quinn can fool the next coaching staff into believing that just because he has the size and frame to be a starting quarterback in this league, that he actually should be one.

Who knows, maybe with a better supporting cast Quinn could actually be a decent starter in this league. Unfortunately for him he’s stuck with what’s around him around now and he better make the most of his situation or else people will continue to wonder whether or not he can be a starter in this league. He better make the most out of his second chance.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Browns to contact Holmgren?

Anthony Stalter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:26 +0000

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to a report by ESPN.com, the Cleveland owner Randy Lerner will contact former Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren to run the Browns.

Holmgren is itching to return to football and the opportunity he would have in Cleveland would be an attractive one. Lerner is looking for someone to perform for the Browns the same role that vice president of football operations Bill Parcells performs for the Dolphins. The job, for the time being, is Holmgren’s to lose.

If Holmgren were to take it — and there are some people who think he still would prefer to coach — he would be returning to the Midwest, where he built his reputation as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers.

Holmgren is one of at least four names on Lerner’s wish list, though he is considered the top target. The others are former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay and former Packers general manager Ron Wolf.

Holmgren’s track record speaks for itself. He’s coached three different Super Bowl teams and built the Seahawks into a consistent division winner and playoff contender. He knows how to build a team from the ground up, which is exactly what the Browns need right now.

And if you’re Lerner, why wouldn’t you allow Holmgren to coach if that was the only stipulation in luring him to Cleveland? Eric Mangini has been a disaster to this point and there is little to no hope on the horizon. Lerner should have no qualms about firing Mangini and replacing him with someone with a resume like Holmgren’s.

If Lerner can’t get Holmgren, either Accorsi, McKay or Wolf would be solid choices, although it might be tough to get Wolf, who has had opportunities to return as a general manager and has declined them.

Were Mangini and Kokinis at odds?

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:32:05 +0000

According to a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, head coach Eric Mangini and former GM George Kokinis were apparently at odds with each other “early on.” The Browns fired Kokinis yesterday despite hiring him in the 2009 offseason.

Less than 24 hours after Browns owner Randy Lerner pledged to add a new “credible, serious leader” to reorganize his football operations, the team parted ways with General Manager George Kokinis. According to league sources, both men became disenchanted with the other early on. In training camp, Mangini and Kokinis were seldom seen talking on the field. Rumors intensified over the past month that Kokinis could be fired.

It’s interesting to hear that Mangini and Kokinis were at odds early on, because the pair obviously had to work closely together at the draft considering the Browns made so many draft-day deals. Unless one of them was calling all the shots while the other sat idle to the side, in which case I could see why issues would occur later on.

This is one of the more dysfunctional organizations in football, right up there with the Raiders and Rams. Chances are that if the Browns finish with only one or two wins (which is a major possibility), then Mangini could be fired in the offseason and the organization has to start all over again.

Report: Browns fire George Kokinis

Anthony Stalter — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:13:36 +0000

CLEVELAND SCORES reports that the Browns have fired GM George Kokinis.

It’s hard to react to this without having all the facts, but the Browns under Randy Lerner are starting to rival the Oakland Raiders and the Washington Redskins as the most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL. As I discussed yesterday, it all comes down to Randy Lerner.

Why would the General Manager hand-picked by Eric Mangini be fired after only nine months? He’s not coaching the team, and frankly most of his moves have made sense. He hasn’t destroyed the cap and he traded guys like Winslow and Edwards for draft picks. His draft doesn’t look great so far, but for years Browns fans have complained about not drafting offensive linemen, and Kokinis picked up a center in the first round. He may not look like a pro-bowler now, but it’s not crazy to expect Alex Mack to anchor the line for years with Joe Thomas.

Problems must exist behind the scenes, but will Randy Lerner have the guts to face the media and explain himself here? With a control-freak like Eric Mangini, who’s going to come in and run this team?