00:00Wiseheart Wright, we make it right. Call Kyle Wright Hotline, the man who covers the Browns
00:04for the Chronicle Telegram, brownszone.com, brownszone.com, where you can read all of
00:10the fine work of Mr. Scott Petrak. Hello, Scott. Scotty? What's going on, fellas? Tell me you hit
00:17him and hit him straight yesterday. I wish I could tell you that, but I did not get out to
00:22play
00:23yesterday. That's rough. So much for being the Browns beat reporter of the year. You just
00:32lost it there. Because I stayed home and watched football. That's right. I stayed home and watched
00:37football and took care of the dog. That's right. I'll have to ask Shadell. We'll see if it's
00:42okay. We'll get you back in the club. The Cleveland Browns are in first place. What? It's a tie,
00:47but it's in first place. What the heck is going on, Scott? They've looked surprising. How
00:55about that through the last three games? I completely agree. I mean, I wouldn't have
01:00had them 3-1 before the season. I certainly wouldn't have had them 3-1 after that opener
01:06in Jacksonville. And, you know, talk to Todd Munkin about that early Friday morning or late
01:11Thursday night. He said the same thing? Yeah. He said, I've caught you nuts if we were to be
01:163-1. So at least I'm not alone in thinking that. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, when you play really
01:22well in the fourth quarter, at least get the offensive winning touchdown drives in the fourth
01:28quarter or field goal drives sometimes, that makes all the difference in the world. So I think the
01:32defense has played much, much better since that opener. And we can talk about that. It's a lot more
01:37man-to-man. And then the offense is getting clutch performances from many people. And it starts
01:46with, you know, Deshaun Watson on those winning drives in the fourth quarter. Unusual hero in
01:51that, in Jerry Judy, what do we, November 10th, I think is the trade deadline. Is it, is he a
01:57name
01:57that we should be looking at to see if they could end up moving or does it just depend on
02:00how the next
02:01month plays out? Yeah. I mean, if you don't want to trade a guy in case there's an injury, but
02:07you know, if the Browns stay healthy, I certainly think he's a candidate to be traded. And the reason
02:13is he's fallen behind those two rookies on the depth chart and behind Jerry Judy, you have Isaiah
02:19Bond, who I think they would like to get, or they'd be comfortable with Bond playing more than he is
02:24right now. So I think a trade of Judy would make sense, you know, assuming they can handle the
02:30salary cap ramifications and they get something back. I don't think you just give them away.
02:35I don't think he's been a problem to this point in the, in the locker room or anything like that.
02:41But if you could get something in return, then yeah, I certainly think that's possible,
02:47especially because I would assume that Jerry Judy gets cut after this season. There's no guaranteed
02:52money on his contract after the season. So, you know, this is assuming he doesn't have a crazy
02:56final, you know, finish to the season and plays a bunch and looks like he did in 2024.
03:02But when you draft two rookies in the first two rounds, that was the writing on the wall. So
03:08having said that, Judy showed up and they gave him a chance. You know, they didn't throw the ball
03:12in his way, his way at all the previous two games. And then Watson comes back to him Thursday night.
03:17He makes three catches, including two big ones on that game-winning field wheel drive.
03:22Okay. Can I play devil's advocate here?
03:24Yeah.
03:25They needed him. He stepped up, played well. They're, they're oddly three and one.
03:32Yeah.
03:33And the guys ahead of them are rookies or the guys, Isaiah Bond, second year guy.
03:40Sure.
03:40Should you maybe hang on to him? Because this thing's going a lot better than everybody thought.
03:46Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I get that point, Jeff. And I'm not, you know, I don't think it'd be
03:49any case on like a fire sale. Could you get something back that you think is more valuable
03:55than the final, whatever, how many games are left at the trade deadline? Call it eight games.
04:01Can you get something you think is more valuable than Jerry Judy would give you over the final
04:05eight games plus the potential of the playoffs? And that's the decision Andrew Barry would have
04:11to make, you know, and I think a lot does depend on how the next few games play out to
04:16the Browns
04:17keep winning. Does Judy have a role where he's making a contribution? I mean, if, if he goes
04:24two more games to the next two games without a catch or in, without a target, like he did
04:28the previous two games, they only had one target. Then you go, okay, what are we really missing
04:33with this guy not being here? So I think there's a lot left to play out. I just wouldn't rule
04:38out. Um, a Jerry Judy trade somehow, some way they got to figure out these penalty problems.
04:44I, I, and I don't know, is that coaching? Is that discipline? What, what is it? Tell me.
04:48Well, I mean, we always blame the coaching, right? We did under the previous coach. So I
04:52don't think that changes because they changed coaches. It's always a combination. You know,
04:57I know they're drilling it. I know that Todd is Munkin is stressing it, but they still keep
05:02happening and it's variety. You know, there's some on special teams. We saw some 15 yarders
05:07on defense this week. Um, in addition to the pre-snap false start stuff that we'd seen
05:13the week before. So, you know, when we talk about the three game winning streak, one of
05:17the reasons it's improbable is because of all the penalties, right? It's hard to overcome
05:22those, but they have been able to, uh, but it can't continue. And Munkin knows that.
05:27I think the players know that. Uh, I just don't know, you know, they've been trying to fix
05:31it and it hasn't been fixed yet. So they have to go back to drawing board and figure out,
05:35um, what's the way to get rid of them. And part of it's discipline. You know, when you
05:40have the 15 yarders, that's discipline, uh, even when you have the pre-snap stuff, it's
05:44disciplined and it's, you know, I think you can attribute some to the guys being young
05:48and maybe they're not lined up in the right spots or there's a, you know, when there's
05:52an illegal shift and the guy's moving or something like that, but it's too pervasive to just pin
05:58it on any one thing. Scott Pedrack joining us, Chronicle Telegram, brownzone.com. You can read
06:04all of Scott's coverage of the Browns through four games of guys who have played in four games.
06:10Deshaun Watson is sixth in the NFL in completion percentage. Scott, how has he played in your mind?
06:17I think he's played, well, he's played really well in the end, right? Because we talked about
06:23those three straight winning drives. I think overall he's played, well, he's played better
06:29than I expected. Um, I would probably put it slightly above average. Uh, you know,
06:36the completion percentage I think is due a lot to a bunch of short passes. Um, we've seen that
06:42agreed, you know, there's been some big time misfires. Not that that doesn't happen with
06:46every quarterback, but you know, he had fan and wide open and maybe they run out the clock
06:52against Pittsburgh and then it allows Pittsburgh to go on and score the tying touchdown and two
06:57point conversion. And there's just been, I think too many of those, uh, you know, a few too many
07:03turnovers, whether or not Todd Munkin wants to take the responsibility for the fumble on the TJ Watt
07:09play. Watson's still the guy fumbling. He fumbled another one and got it back. You know, he got hit on
07:15the interception, but it was also a couple of guys backed on defense. So, um, he can clean it up,
07:21but it's certainly encouraging that he's played his probably best in the biggest moments. And I think
07:29there is reason to think, well, this guy hasn't played in forever and he's going to get better.
07:33And I don't know what that ceiling is. Um, but I think it's reasonable to think that he will
07:38continue to improve. How do you think this team compares the rest of the North right now? I mean,
07:43they played one and I'm watching Cincinnati yesterday and I'm looking to see what happens
07:47with Baltimore. Uh, Lamar Jackson, we'll find out after an MRI today where he's at, but how does
07:52this team compare to the rest of the AFC North? Yeah. I mean, I think they're still
07:58behind Baltimore and Cincinnati. Uh, you know, I think Baltimore was really good. And if you look
08:03at the Superbowl odds there, I think they're third or fourth in the odds to win the Superbowl. So
08:09the odds makers agree that they're really good. And Lamar's really good when he's
08:13healthy. Um, Cincinnati, I can't get my head around them. You know, I watched a bunch of
08:17that game yesterday and you know, they're not scoring enough. And I know that Jamar Chase
08:23got hurt and Higgins got hurt real late, but it's, it's just, you know, and I get it's the
08:28NFL, but it, it always kind of boggles my mind when an offense that powerful has a day like
08:35it did yesterday where it just doesn't score like it should. Right. And they can't run the
08:38ball. Even though I really liked Chase Brown. Um, it feels like with Joe Burrow there and healthy,
08:43they should just be putting up points to hire it every week. And you know, they weren't able to do
08:48that yesterday against a good Jacksonville team. There's no doubt about that. Um, and then their
08:53defense has been up and down Cincinnati's defense. So I still think they're really talented. And when
08:57Burrow's healthy and playing well, they can be as good as anybody. So I still need to see more
09:03out of the Browns before I say they've moved ahead of those two teams, but obviously three
09:09and one, they're going to be in the discussion. And I, and Todd said, monkey said it after the game.
09:14If you're in the conversation, that's so important and the Browns are relevant. And if
09:19three and one, they're going to be relevant for a while, even if they lose a couple of games,
09:22so we three and three and they're still be relevant. Right. So, um, I think that's one of the
09:26most encouraging things, especially if you're a fan, I mean, what's not to be excited about being three
09:31and one, and they're going to have a big game against the Ravens in a couple of weeks, regardless
09:35of what happens in New York on Sunday, New York on Sunday. It's a Jets team that's lost three
09:40straight, but I, I don't think they've lost three straight because they were completely outplayed.
09:47It was a three point loss to green Bay and they played Detroit pretty well, lost by a touchdown
09:50on the road and lost in Chicago yesterday. Uh, that said you had a great chance to go four and
09:57one here, Scott. Do you not? You really do. You really do. I mean, New York, I think had the
10:02ball for 15 or 18 minutes yesterday. Um, I saw Gino Smith had nothing going stat wise and
10:09yeah, Brees Hall was out. So, you know, they might be down there top playmaker next week too.
10:15Yeah. Devin Bush, the former Browns linebacker, this with the bear said he was bored on the
10:19sideline cause they were never on the field and he wasn't tired at all because the, you know,
10:24their offense had the ball for so long yesterday and the Jets obviously didn't do anything
10:29offensively. So yeah, that's a game is a bronze can easily win, right? I think they're a point
10:33and a half underdog. Uh, you know, this is a crazy league and we talk about it being week
10:38to week, you know, are the Browns a lot of times I look at a team and go, are they
10:42a four
10:42and one team? You know, and if you don't think they are, then that, that judge game is a game
10:46they could go in and lose. Um, but they could also go in and play well and get the win
10:51and be
10:51a four and one whether or not you think they're a four and one, right? Cause you win four games,
10:55you're a four and one team. So, uh, you know, I know the excitement level is going to be crazy
10:59high talking to those guys after the game Thursday night, everybody's excited and they
11:05still think their best football is ahead of them offensively and defensively. Like there's
11:08a lot of stuff to clean up on both sides yet. They've won. So yeah, I mean, all of a
11:13sudden
11:14that Ravens game could look real important in a couple of weeks. Uh, speaking of looking at
11:18that game, uh, what are the odds of it getting flexed? Cause you can, they can flex after week
11:22five, right? I think. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, that's, I would certainly think it's in contention
11:26now. I think you have, they would have to do it this week. I don't think they can wait until
11:30I
11:30to see what happens on Sunday, um, or see even the health of Lamar. Yeah. I think we'd have to
11:35have that decision made by Wednesday or Thursday this week. I was just going to mention the health
11:40of Lamar Jackson. I think people should be paying attention to that because though we all love
11:45Tyler Huntley, he's not Lamar Jackson or he's not Lamar. No, and they didn't do much when Lamar
11:52left at halftime yesterday, he's kind of hung on against a bad Tennessee team. So obviously that's
11:57a huge difference. Lamar's an MVP caliber quarterback at all times. So for him not to be play, not to
12:05play
12:05or even not to be himself, right? The guy that can kill you so many different ways, especially running
12:10the ball and escaping pressure that would change everything. And it would change if he misses any
12:15significant time, it would change the landscape of the AFC North. It just would. He's one of him
12:20and Burrow are those two players that would do it. So, uh, I think that's something that Browns need
12:24to monitor closely. I don't think Baltimore will be reckless with them. Uh, so maybe he doesn't play
12:30this week and they try to bring him back for Cleveland. Uh, but obviously that's going to be huge
12:35heading into that matchup in a couple of Sundays. Scotty. Thanks buddy. We appreciate it.
12:39Thank you, fellas. Thank you. Scott Petrack, brownzone.com. Go to the website, brownzone.com.
12:45You can read all of Scott's coverage of the Cleveland Browns through four games. The Browns
12:51have three wins. At what point should they're thinking about maybe this season and beyond change?
13:01In other words, trade deadlines coming up. Should you be thinking about such things or are you sitting
13:08here with a three game winning streak tied for first place in the division at three and one
13:13and it's working? Uh, our, our buddy, Daryl Ryder, our Browns beat reporter had something to say
13:18about that. We're going to get into that next. And it involves quarterbacks on Baskin and Phelps.
13:22And it involves, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
13:22uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
13:22uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
13:22uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
13:22uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
13:22uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh
