3 Cleveland Browns to watch in Week 6 matchup with Patriots

The Cleveland Browns look to get back to 500 against the Patriots in Week 6. Here are 3 players to keep an eye on as they take on New England.

It’s been a rough couple of games for the Cleveland Browns as they’ve been beaten two weeks in row after inconsistent play by their defense and some untimely mistakes.

However, they’re not standing pat as they made some transactions this week and brought in two players that have most recently played for the Atlanta Falcons including linebacker Deoin Jones and nose tackle Tyeler Davison. Both could hopefully help with the Cleveland defense that has been giving up big play after big play by their opponents.

Jones, a former Pro Bowler, was introduced to the local media this week, and he shared his thoughts on the most recent troubles of his new team’s defense.

We’re not sure if he’ll play on Sunday when Cleveland hosts the New England Patriots as he’s returning from a recent injury, but he’ll definitely be a player to keep an eye on as the season unfolds.

There are several other Browns that will play in the game Sunday and are worth a second look so let’s dive into those players next.

3 Browns players to watch in Week 6

Nick Chubb is “must-see TV” if you’re a Browns fan. He’s having his best start to a season so far and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon, though his carries continue to mysteriously diminish each week. Is it a coincidence that the team has also lost the last two games?

After Week 5, he leads the NFL in rushing with 593 yards on only 98 carries. That’s a 6.1 YPC average. He also has added seven touchdowns this year. Last season, and two other seasons (2018, 2019) he finished with eight touchdowns on the ground so what he’s accomplished already this time around is very impressive.

The fact that he’s producing at such a high level isn’t surprising to most that have followed his career over the last five years. That’s also why many are questioning why the team isn’t using Chubb even more. After a season-high 23 carries in the Browns last win against the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 3, his carries have dropped to 19 in Week 4 and 17 in Week 5.

Understandably, the coaches might be trying to conserve Chubb’s energy because it’s a long 17 game season, but that approach might be a bit too much. Cleveland has lost the last two with Chubb standing on the sidelines on the last offensive drives.

Maybe it’s time to up those carries a bit and help this team get the next win because right now Cleveland needs a spark.

Kicking the game-winner in Week 1 for Cade York might have seemed like wonderful moment for the rookie but that highlight was also a curse as it has many Browns fans up in arms already after the “15 minutes of fame” youngster has missed several crucial kicks since that time. Obviously, getting that victory at the start of the season, ending a long streak of season-opening defeats was a bright spot for York and the Browns as a whole.

Like in any sport, football has a mental side to it and that, unfortunately, seems to be the case with the former LSU Tiger. He missed an extra point attempt in Week 2 that would have given his team a 14-point lead instead of 13 points. That falter led to them losing by one point. This past Sunday in the loss to the Chargers, York missed two field goals including another game-winning attempt.

Chances are high that in this next game against the Patriots, York will again have multiple extra-point and few field goal attempts. Maybe, knowing that all eyes are on him is a growing problem for the youngster, but his job was to make the kicks.

He was drafted pretty high in the fourth round with the idea that he’d be a difference-maker for the Browns. It certainly wouldn’t be good for York if he became too unreliable as the season wore on as the fan base grows more agitated with each miss.

Watching Jacoby Brissett carry the ball and stretch for those fourth down and one conversions so far this season is just one reason it’s been fun watching him. When the Browns coach Kevin Stefanski tried outthinking himself in the most recent game against the Chargers and went away from the guaranteed first down in the second half of a close game, instead trying a run with pulling offensive linemen, which in turn blew up in his face, the value of Brissett became blatantly obvious.

But Brissett also has his flaws and that has reared its ugly head in recent games. While the quarterback has played well and helped move the team down the field pretty routinely, he’s also now thrown three interceptions and all of them have been late in games where if he hadn’t thrown the pick, his team may have won all three contests.

In this past Sunday’s battle against Los Angeles, Brissett threw an interception at the goal line which ended a promising drive. Two weeks ago in Atlanta, he threw an interception in the closing seconds when his squad was within field goal range.

It’s really been an interesting period for the former North Carolina State quarterback. He’s been producing in this offense, but he’s also ruined drives with these turnovers and that’s been uncharacteristic of him.

In his 2017 season, when he played for the Indianapolis Colts in the starting role, he only threw seven interceptions. In all three situations this season, it certainly has looked like he tried to force the ball into coverage and that hasn’t worked in his favor.

Now, Brissett gets to go against the team that originally drafted him in the third round in 2016. He started a couple of games as a rookie but was later traded to the Colts in the fall of 2017 when they were needing a quarterback to fill in for Andrew Luck.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick certainly liked Brissett back then and surely will have a good idea of what his team will see from him in this game. How Brissett will handle that knowledge that his former coach has will be fun to watch and hopefully the Browns benefit in the end, and they can walk away with the victory.

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