00:00Let's go to the Wiseheart Wright, we make it right, call Kyle Wright Hotline, and we bring in Mary Kay
00:05Cabot, who also is on that Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
00:09Hi, Mary Kay, how are you?
00:10Hi, Mary Kay.
00:11I'm doing great, guys. How are you doing?
00:13I'm doing fantastic, too. We're 3-1, Mary Kay. I don't know, pinch me. Pinch me!
00:19Well, it's so fun for Browns fans. It's been really fun to be down there and see fans go home
00:25happy and see the place rocking.
00:27So that's been the best part of it.
00:30Before we get into anything else, Mason Graham, how bad, how long, what do you think?
00:35Well, I was told by someone over the weekend that there is a world in which he could possibly, possibly
00:42get back for that Baltimore Ravens game on October 18th.
00:46Won't be easy, probably a long shot, but he's that type of person, that old-school, tough kind of guy,
00:53that if there's any way he can get back out there for that game, he's going to be there.
00:58I hope so.
01:00Mike Hall came back. Mike Hall looked all right. Is his ankle okay, we think?
01:04Well, the good thing about it for these guys is that they had the long weekend after, you know, they
01:08had this mini-bye.
01:09They've had days off. They're back out there today, I believe, for a walkthrough, but they've had time to rest
01:14up and heal up.
01:16And it's amazing what, you know, four or five days can do when something originally doesn't look that great.
01:22So, I think Mike Hall will be back out there on Sunday. He said he will, and I'm just going
01:28to buy that.
01:29Are we in a Browns quarterback quandary, or is that coming up here when they need to make some sort
01:35of decision on Dylan Gabriel?
01:39Well, they will have to make a decision, and it will be do they keep four on the active roster,
01:44or do they try to perhaps get Kalen Green through waivers and onto the practice squad?
01:49That would be one thing that you could possibly do.
01:52And, you know, maybe they think that can happen.
01:54I personally don't think they should try that. I think it would be a risk.
01:57I think there are too many quarterback injuries in the NFL this season.
02:01I think somebody might snatch him up and put him on their roster, and I think he's such a good
02:06developmental project that I don't think they should take that risk.
02:10So, I really don't know exactly what they're going to do, but I still am standing by my report from
02:15last week that they have no plans of trading Shador Sanders or Dylan Gabriel at this time.
02:22Okay, so of the three, though, if you only wanted to keep three, and I'm ruling Watson out of this,
02:28I mean, I know Shor's the backup, but who would have the most value if another team needed a quarterback?
02:35Well, it depends on what you were looking for, I guess.
02:39Okay.
02:39I think if you were really looking for someone that could step in and start some games for you, perhaps
02:45you might want to think about a Dylan Gabriel.
02:48But it depends on the style of quarterback that you're looking for.
02:51It just depends on your system and what you're willing to do.
02:56But I just don't really think that they want to trade either of those guys.
02:59So, I don't want to go down that road where I think this is going to happen because at this
03:04point, I would be surprised.
03:05Now, having said that, you always have to qualify it.
03:09Everyone has a price.
03:10Everyone has a price.
03:11We found that out with Miles Garrett.
03:13So, if someone comes calling and makes the Browns a nice offer that they can't refuse and they feel good
03:19about what they have in their room, then I'm sure they would probably think about doing something.
03:24But for right now, I think they feel like they might just need some of these young guys as they
03:29move through the season.
03:30I'm just going to throw this one example at you, and I'm just curious your thoughts.
03:34Ready?
03:34If Lamar Jackson's hurt and they feel like they don't want to go to Tyler Huntley and they need to
03:40make a move in Baltimore, it's hard not to forget that when Todd Munkin and Shadour met, it was a
03:47video that was put out by the Browns.
03:49It said, yeah, we made a run at you.
03:50Remember that whole thing?
03:51Now, the question is, is who?
03:53And is anybody in that front office in Baltimore still there that would say, oh, well, maybe we can take
03:59a run at him if Jackson's out?
04:03Baltimore, to me, is intriguing.
04:05And then the next question would be, do you think the Browns would ever do a deal with Baltimore middle
04:09season without a quarterback?
04:10That's the other.
04:11I find that hard to sink in.
04:14No, I mean, they want to continue developing Shadour.
04:17And the other thing is, yes, the Baltimore Ravens wanted to draft him, but that was in the fifth round.
04:22It's not like they were going after him in the second round or something like that.
04:25That was in the fifth round.
04:27And so they were viewing him as more of a developmental quarterback, too.
04:31And the other thing is, you can't just pick up a quarterback at this point in the season and plug
04:35him in and have him start unless he's like, maybe like a Joe Flacco or a longtime veteran who knows
04:40your system or knows some facsimile of your system.
04:44So I don't think that would be feasible right now.
04:47Mary Kay, we were kicking around yesterday.
04:51There are wide receiver injuries all over the place.
04:54Jerry Judy would appear to be a guy that might be available, although I thought he did a great job
05:01the other day.
05:02How does being 3-1 change the thinking about what the Browns might have been thinking heading into this when
05:11it came to some of their veteran players?
05:12Because I wouldn't move Jerry Judy.
05:14I wouldn't move Shadour.
05:16Because you're 3-1 in it right now.
05:20Well, first of all, the trade deadline has been pushed back as of a couple of years ago by a
05:25week.
05:26So now you can go a little deeper into the season and sort of figure out where you're at before
05:30you make some of those big decisions.
05:32But certainly the Browns are right in the thick of it right now.
05:36And if they win this weekend and Baltimore loses, obviously they can be back all alone in first place in
05:41the AFC North.
05:42So now is not the time to be unloading your depth.
05:45And they're not thinking about doing that.
05:47They knew they were going to need Jerry Judy.
05:50And he came up big for them in that game.
05:52And the season is very, very young.
05:55And as Todd Munkin says, this offense is still under construction.
05:59There are going to be times when you're going to have to rely on Jerry Judy to come through for
06:03you in a big way.
06:04And he was able to do that on Sunday.
06:06And I think we will see more of that going forward.
06:09All right.
06:10Let's talk about Todd Munkin's influence and what you've seen so far through the beginning of the season.
06:14And, you know, I don't know if I asked you this last week or not,
06:17but, you know, you'd heard people, although Atlanta played pretty good last night.
06:21But if Kevin Stefanski was here still, would this team look like this?
06:26And that question isn't about Kevin.
06:28It's about how much credit does Todd deserve at this point?
06:31Well, it's really hard to say.
06:33I mean, remember, Kevin Stefanski was a two-time NFL coach of the year.
06:38So he was no slouch.
06:40But I do think that Todd has some kind of vibe going on with Deshaun Watson.
06:46He really understands how to call a game for Deshaun.
06:49Those two guys are playing in concert very, very well together.
06:54And they're just totally on the same page.
06:56And I really think that that's been a big part of Deshaun playing up to his capabilities.
07:01And I think it will only get better and better if Deshaun stays healthy.
07:05So we are just seeing this offense in its infancy.
07:09Todd's got a lot more in the bag.
07:11And he knows they have to walk before they can run.
07:13And I think you'll see a lot more in the second half than you're seeing right now.
07:19How do you feel the offensive line has been developing, Mary Kay?
07:23And might there be enough depth there that the Browns would think about moving somebody in a trade?
07:30Well, once again, they feel pretty good about their roster right now.
07:34So I don't know that they're really looking to unload good quality depth.
07:38That's why you have that depth, because this is a war of attrition as you move through the season.
07:44As you can already see in the NFL, so many key guys have gotten injured.
07:48You have to have key quality backups.
07:50So I don't think they are clamoring to get rid of anybody right now.
07:54Once again, you'll always be open-minded.
07:56You'll always listen to things.
07:58But I don't think they're looking to do too much in terms of just getting rid of guys.
08:05As far as the offensive line is concerned, it's coming together.
08:07It wasn't easy to have to have Luke Whipler step in there for Elton Jenkins.
08:12It'll be nice for them if they can get him back, although I thought Luke did a really, really nice
08:17job.
08:18But it upsets the apple cart a little bit to have a different line combination.
08:22So I think they're hoping to get Elton Jenkins back there.
08:26And week by week, they're coming along.
08:29What do you think about the running game right now?
08:30And can I get a little bit more out of it?
08:33Is it about the offensive line?
08:34And I thought Jaleel McLaughlin was a great story on Thursday night.
08:39And it continues to be just a really cool story.
08:42I don't know how long that's going to play out.
08:44Todd didn't seem to be – I just remember asking Todd questions before about other players
08:50where he just seemed so excited.
08:51And I don't know if he was just in the moment on Thursday.
08:53But I thought he might lean into that story a little bit more on Thursday night.
08:57He didn't.
08:58So I don't know what – you know, McLaughlin's probably destined for practice squad at some point.
09:03But what do you think of the running back situation?
09:06Well, I think what they're going to have to do right now as they try to come together as a
09:11running game,
09:11I think they're going to have to use multiple guys.
09:15And they're going to have to really try to mix it up
09:18and make sure that they're throwing the other team a little bit off guard like they did with Jaleel.
09:24I mean, they just really weren't ready for what Jaleel was about to do there.
09:27And so I do think that – I do think that they're going to have to use a combo of
09:33Quinchon and Raheem
09:34and Jaleel and Deshaun and then also add in some jet sweeps and fly sweeps
09:40and end-arounds with KC and maybe some others as well to make sure that they're getting what they need
09:45on the ground.
09:48The overall play of the defense, Mary Kay, I think the last three games has been fun to watch.
09:53You know, and the attack-minded defense that we've seen from Rutenberg's defense,
10:01do you think they needed – was it a philosophical change after week one with Jacksonville?
10:07Did he do something different?
10:09What do you think happened there?
10:10Because obviously it's a different result from what happened against Jacksonville,
10:14but it also looks like a different style of play.
10:18Well, I think Jacksonville was almost like a preseason game for the Cleveland Browns.
10:22They had never really played together offensively or defensively to any great extent.
10:27So that game was a game for the coaches to see what they had in their personnel,
10:32to see how they reacted in certain situations.
10:35And I think that they worked out some kinks after that.
10:38One of the things they did is they went to more man-to-man defense in the back end,
10:42and they're well-suited to that.
10:44When you have a five-time Pro Bowler in Denzel Ward,
10:47and you've got an excellent starting cornerback in Tyson Campbell and some other good DBs.
10:52So that was one thing that they did.
10:54But they've had to learn each other.
10:56And then when you take a player like Jared Verse,
10:59he's learning how to play in this attack-style system for the first week –
11:03I mean, for the first time in his career.
11:05And then I think as you saw as the weeks went on,
11:09you see him lining up in the middle, standing up a little bit, moving around.
11:13So they figured out maybe how to unlock him a little bit,
11:17and I think that's been good.
11:18Of course, they need to get Mason Graham back, their best defender right now.
11:23But, you know, I think some other guys are really starting to come around,
11:26like Isaiah McGuire.
11:28He's finding his sea legs in this defense.
11:30And it's just – it's all kind of coming together under Mike Rutenberg.
11:37I was going through some other thoughts, too.
11:39I just – as far as you look at this team in the AFC North
11:43and what we've seen through the first couple weeks of the AFC North,
11:46can – do we have a good feel?
11:47At what point do we kind of feel like we understand the identity of a team?
11:52And then how will that play out in the AFC North?
11:54Because I'm still kind of confused on what – I mean, I still think if you don't have
11:59all those stupid penalties on Thursday, the Browns probably could have won
12:03by at least another 10 points on Thursday night if you can walk away from those penalties.
12:07How do you think the Browns stack up against the rest of the AFC North now?
12:12Well, I think actually pretty good right now.
12:15When you watched the Bengals play the other day,
12:19I think that looked like a team that can be beat to me.
12:22And so I do think that there are a lot of things to look forward to,
12:26too, and I do believe that the Browns are going to get better and better
12:29as they stay healthy.
12:31Once again, they're almost still – they just came out of their preseason, basically.
12:36And they came out of their sort of preseason mode at 3-1.
12:40And if anybody would have told all of us that they'd be 3-1 after the first quarter
12:44of the season, I think we would have been surprised by that,
12:47especially with the schedule and games on the road and whatnot.
12:51So I think that they can stack up pretty much with anybody.
12:55And if they can just stay healthy, especially Deshaun,
12:59then I think they can make a playoff run.
13:01Mary Kay, as always, we are watching you and reading you.
13:03Of course, we're reading you every day on the PlaneDealerInCleven.com,
13:06and we're watching you on the Orange and Brown Podcast,
13:09so Orange and Brown Talk Podcast.
13:12So we'll make sure we check you out there, and we do appreciate your time.
13:15Thank you, Mary Kay.
13:15Thanks, Mary Kay.
13:16We'll see you next time.
