Romeo Crennel
Cleveland
October 31, 2007
(On the past few weeks…) “We’ve won a couple games and it’s the first time that
we’ve had back to back wins around here, since I’ve been here anyway. People also say
that since the franchise has come back to Cleveland that maybe since 2003 was the first
time that there were back to back wins. For the media people and the fans, they’re all
excited but I know that, hey, you’re four-and-three and you really haven’t done anything
yet. You still have nine games to play. What do we do from this point on, that’s going to
determine what kind of year we have, what kind of season we have. We know that this is
a big game that we have to play with the Seahawks coming to town and we’re going to
have to play our best.”
(On difficulties after expansion…) “They changed the rules after the first two
expansion teams did so well so early. They made it tougher to get enough quality players
and then the ones that were chosen here, when I got here, there were not many left. I
think, maybe, we only have a few guys of the top first day draft choices on this team from
the last five years. It’s hard to build a team when you don’t have players. That’s part of
the rebuilding process that the Browns have had to go through. We’re making a little
progress. We do have some offensive skill and they’re able to make some plays. Those
are guys that we got in here when we came. Kellen (Winslow) was one that was still here
but he had been injured and hadn’t had a chance to play much. Braylon (Edwards) was a
guy that we drafted. (Derek) Anderson is a guy that we brought in here. Joe Jurevicius is
another guy that we brought in here. Those guys are making plays. We revamped the
offensive line and we’re better on the offensive line so you can see that if you can get
better players you have a chance to play better and do better. I think that that’s where we
are in this growing process.”
(On Cleveland’s offense…) “I think that our acquisition of some offensive linemen who
give the quarterback some protection and give him the opportunity to have a chance to
look down the field and deliver the ball down the field whereas in the past we’ve been
piece mailing the offensive line together and haven’t played as well and right now they’re
playing pretty good.”
(On Derek Anderson…) “Our people knew that he was a big, strong pocket passer with
a strong arm and he was released and we decided to take a chance on him because at the
time we didn’t have very much here. We had just gotten (Charlie) Frye and we had
(Trent) Dilfer who we wanted to mentor Frye so when (Derek) Anderson became
available we took the chance on him. Then we ended up moving Dilfer so then that
elevating Anderson right away. He was able to get some work and get some turns and
then last year he went into a game and helped us win the game so you saw that he had
some ability. It was just a matter of him doing it consistently. I had two quarterbacks
that I was working with during the summer and the off-season. That might have hurt
both of them because I tried to be as fair as I could about giving them both an opportunity
to show what they can do. We were putting in a new offensive system so they both had
to learn all new stuff, new terms. That probably slowed both of them down a little bit and
they didn’t have the opportunity to show as much.”
(On Charlie Frye…) “I didn’t decide he wasn’t right for the team. I decided in those 20
minutes that we weren’t playing well enough and I felt like the team needed a change so I
changed quarterbacks and went to (Derek) Anderson. Then after that some trade
possibilities arrived and came up and we decided to make the trade so we did and then
we’ve moved on.”
(On the quarterback situation…) “Well the clear plan was for the best guy to play and
show that he could handle the job and do the job. Once Derek (Anderson) had the job he
has shown that he could do it, he’s taken the bull by the horns and he’s been running with
it.”
(On Charlie Frye…) “Charlie (Frye) is a great competitor, Charlie wants to win, he
works very hard at his craft, it just didn’t work out here for him, so I know that he will do
everything he can to be the best player he can there in Seattle.”
(On the difficulty of letting Charlie Frye go…) “Well it’s always tough to let go of
guys that you like, and who are good people and good workers. But that’s part of this
business and you have to be able to do that in the head coaching role.”
(On Joe Jurevicius…) “I knew what kind of player Joe (Jurevicius) was, I’ve seen Joe
work and followed his career, and he’s always been steady and consistent catcher of the
football, a lot of people like to say he’s a professional.”
(On Joe Jurevicius helping to improve Braylon Edwards game…) “I would like to
think that Braylon (Edwards) watches him, and listens to him, and that will make Braylon
(Edwards) more mature and more consistent as Braylon develops his career.”
(On Braylon Edwards this season…) “Well I think the biggest differences is that he
settled down and just decided to play football, and not worry about the things he can’t
control, and making plays and catching the football, and just doing that at a high level
now.”
(On Derek Anderson’s confidence…) “Well I think all of us, if we can have confidence
in our teammates, confidence in what we’re doing, that you can get on a roll. I think that
D.A.’s (Derek Anderson) confidence is at a high level right now because he has been
successful, he has moved the team and has won some games. So hopefully we can keep
that confidence at a high level.”
(On being a defensive minded coach in high scoring games…) “It can be tough for a
short while, basically during the game, but then once the game is over and you win then
you’re excited about winning, and that’s why we play the game, to win. You know that
there might be some things that you want to do better, but when you win the game you’ll
take the win and then you’ll try to fix things that need fixing later.”
(On the defense…) “We’ve let them throw the ball over our head, and then we have a
hard time stopping the run, there’s no secret about that, everybody who looks at the stats
and who has watched us play can tell you that, and we’re trying to get it fixed, but we
haven’t fixed it yet.”
(On Brian Russell…) “We got Brian (Russell) from Minnesota and Brian is a good
person, he’s got a good family, he did a good job for us while he was here. I liked his
attitude, liked his personality, liked the way he played on the field, a decision was made
to let him go and so we did what we had to do, and I’m glad to see that he’s come out
there and stepped right into the starting role and is doing a good job for you.”
(On the Seahawks defense…) “It looks like they all run to the ball really well, things
like they get more than one guy to the ball, linebackers, keep those linebackers free so
they can run. Looks like Rocky (Bernard) inside is disruptive, (Darryl) Tapp coming off
the edge, he’s disruptive, but overall team speed and the way you guys get after the ball.”
(On the Browns defensive struggles and losing Brian Russell…) “Well I mean he
wasn’t the only guy in the secondary, and just like right now, there’s not only one guy
who is back there deep. All those guys are deep at one point, so the thing that they have
to do is they have to know what their responsibility is and then take care of their
responsibility first, before they try to help out. A lot of times, the defensive backs, they
try to help out somewhere else before they take care of their responsibility, and then
that’s when the ball gets thrown over the head.”