Daily Dawg Tags: Browns looking ahead to 2017 season
By Thomas Moore
Spanning the virtual globe to bring you the latest news about the Cleveland Browns and the NFL – these are your Daily Dawg Tags for Wednesday, Jan. 4.
The Cleveland Browns may have struggled during the regular season, but things are looking up for the franchise as they embark on the off-season.
The latest good news is that the coaching staff will be on the sidelines at the Senior Bowl. The Browns will coach the South team in three practices leading up to the Jan. 28 game in Mobile, Ala.
“I’m excited about coaching the Senior Bowl,” head coach Hue Jackson said. “They really do an outstanding job of getting great players to participate in the game. Obviously, this can be really beneficial to our organization by spending a week coaching some of the best players in college football while we are preparing for the draft.
“I always say coaching is all about teaching and putting players in the best environment to succeed. I really look at this as an opportunity to help these young men be at their best during a week in which they get to showcase their talents to the entire National Football League.”
For a team holding five selections within the first 65 picks of the 2017 NFL Draft the opportunity to add an extra layer of evaluation of prospects is a great thing.
Cleveland Browns news:
2017 schedule provides some hope for success
After a miserable season, the focus surrounding the Cleveland Browns is all about the 2017 NFL Draft. It is hard to even think about a game after the 1-15 season, but fans now know who the opponents will be next season.
A lack of confidence at Heinz Field
The Cleveland Browns had countless chances to win Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it never felt like the team would actually do it.
Off-season is off to a quiet start
The Cleveland Browns will not be making any drastic changes this off-season, which is a nice change after so much turnover since 1999.
Owners apologize to season-ticket holders in letter (ESPN)
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam apologized to season-ticket holders Tuesday for the team’s 1-15 season. “Clearly this season has been a painful part of our building process,” the Haslams wrote in a letter released by the team. “You deserve the best, and you certainly deserve better than a 1-15 team. “We are sorry that our results have not been better.”
Browns coaching staff to coach in the Senior Bowl (NFL.com)
The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears coaching staffs have been selected to serve as the coaches for the 2017 Reese’s Senior Bowl. The Senior Bowl, annually held in Mobile, Ala., gathers two 55-man rosters of draft prospects for a week, culminating with the all-star game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Representatives from all 32 teams send scouts, coaches and personnel executives to the event for interviews with players, on-field evaluations, physical measurements and more. This year’s game will be played Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2:30 p.m. ET and broadcast exclusively on NFL Network.
NFL news:
Raiders expecting Connor Cook to start against Texans (Mercury News)
Rookie from Michigan State could make his first NFL start in playoff opener.
Christian Hackenberg ‘not concerned’ about reported knock from anonymous Jets coach (NYDN)
Christian Hackenberg isn’t worried about anonymous insults. An ESPN report released Sunday quoted an unnamed Jets coach as saying Hackenberg “couldn’t hit the ocean” — a clear knock against the Penn State rookie’s accuracy. Team officials also told the outlet that Hackenberg regressed this year.
Mum’s the word on big NFL topics of the day (Los Angeles Times)
NFL teams made a lot of noise in the immediate aftermath of the Week 17 finales, with San Francisco and San Diego firing their coaches, and Denver confirming that its coach was stepping down. That made for a quiet “Black Monday,” the day struggling teams typically reserve for making changes at the top. But in some cases, the silence was deafening, and what wasn’t explained provided fodder for conversation. A sampling of what was said Monday, and what was left unsaid.
The Chargers are following a familiar stadium script (Sports on Earth)
So now it is supposed to happen to San Diego, the way it just happened to St. Louis, and the way it may happen to Oakland, sooner rather than later. San Diego will lose the Chargers the way St. Louis lost the Rams back to Los Angeles, the way Raiders fans will likely lose their team to Las Vegas. Same song, different cities, with the owners always acting as if they are the victims of some civic conspiracy against them, or swindle. But they’re the ones swindling their own fans, as part of what has become one of the great civic boondoggles of the past 40 years in America: The New Stadium hustle.