00:00He's brought to us by Scheiben Jewelers, Cleveland's premier jewelry store.
00:04He's our Browns beat reporter, Daryl Ryder. Hello, D.
00:06Hi, Daryl.
00:07Hello.
00:08Hello, boys.
00:10How are you?
00:11Three and one, Daryl.
00:13Yes, you can confirm three and one. The Jets are one and three.
00:16And yet the Browns are the underdogs. Funny how that's working.
00:21Well, then there's a good place to go for it, is there not?
00:26Yeah. Well, Denzel Ward said this morning, well, we all know the disrespect for the Browns has been there for
00:33years.
00:33And look, certainly there's a message there being sent by Todd Munkin and his coaching staff this week,
00:40and that is not to look at that one and three Jets record.
00:43It is somewhat deceptive.
00:46You know, they've played some close games.
00:48Obviously, they've won their opener.
00:50They've lost the last three, but they've lost, I should say, by three to the Packers.
00:57You lose by a touchdown to the Detroit Lions.
01:00Obviously, last week, a double-digit loss to the Chicago Bears, but they've been in all these games.
01:06So, look, I think this could be somewhat of a little bit of a trap game.
01:11You're coming off the big Thursday night win at home against the Steelers, right?
01:15You've got three straight game-winning drives looming after this one.
01:19The Baltimore Ravens fly into town.
01:21So, this is one where the Browns better have their eye on the ball.
01:25If not, they're going to come home three and two.
01:30Give me your concerns for this week.
01:33Give me concerns for the Browns.
01:36Well, the health of the interior of the defensive line, right?
01:39Mike Hall, obviously, is banged up.
01:41Mason Graham, thankfully, not going to miss a significant amount of time.
01:45I seriously doubt he's going to be available.
01:47But on the good side of things, he's walking around under his own power within the locker room.
01:53He doesn't have crutches or anything like that.
01:57Yeah, he is wearing – he does occasionally wear a brace on his left leg, a knee brace there.
02:04But that's obviously some good news there.
02:08But, yeah, the interior of the Browns' defensive line, I think, is a concern.
02:11The fact that Geno Smith is not thrown in interception through four games for the Jets.
02:18He's completing over 72% of his passes.
02:21So, the secondary is going to be, you know, tested again.
02:25And Wilson v. Ward is going to be another fun matchup to watch.
02:30We talked to Destell this morning, and he spoke about how excited he is for that particular matchup again.
02:39And then, look, you know, when it comes to Deshaun Watson, he's had some close calls these last couple of
02:45weeks.
02:45But the football gods have smiled upon him.
02:48And mistakes that he has made have not come back to cost him or the Browns when you talk about
02:56the outcome of the game.
02:57So, yeah, I won't say it's a concern.
03:00But, look, he's got to continue to be careful with the football.
03:04Got to, you know, protect it in the run game.
03:07And then also, too, like I said, he's had some close calls in the passing game that have not been
03:13picked off.
03:14So, he's, you know, just because they haven't been picked off don't mean they were good throws.
03:18So, he's got to, obviously, he's got to protect the ball.
03:23Fairly hasn't looked like anybody's Pro Bowl quarterback, but he also hasn't looked like a scrub.
03:28Have you been surprised at how he's played?
03:32I'm stunned.
03:33I just, well, watching how he was performing during the offseason program, during training camp, and even the preseason, it
03:43was beyond unimpressive.
03:46And so, and then you look at what happened in week one, and I'm just sitting there thinking, this guy
03:50has, this guy is washed.
03:52He has nothing left to give.
03:54Respect all the work that he did to come back from the double the killings and all that.
03:59I feel like the Browns just are not going to win with this guy.
04:02And then he's turned a corner, right?
04:04He throws for 260-plus yards last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
04:09Three straight game-winning drives when it matters the most.
04:14He's getting help from his teammates.
04:16The offensive line is doing just enough to protect him.
04:20While the running game isn't exactly humming along here, the running backs are, you know, still finding a way to
04:27impact the game.
04:29The young rookie wide receivers, Denzel Boston, Casey Concepcion, are doing all the big and the little things as well.
04:38So, no, look, I have to give Deshaun Watson his flowers, his credit.
04:43He has been a lot better than I thought he was going to be.
04:48And, look, I question whether or not he can win three games the whole time he was on the field.
04:53And he's done that in four starts so far.
04:56So, my expectations for him, performance-wise, go up because he has demonstrated that the bar should be raised.
05:07And so, that's what I'm going to do.
05:09So, I am going to start to expect a little more from him as the weeks go on.
05:14And he gets more and more reps and more and more comfortable within this Todd Munkin offense.
05:21Take a look at this week's game against the Jets.
05:24I mean, they gave up 230-some yards on the ground.
05:28Yeah, it's not in the Carolina Panthers.
05:30Yeah, so, is this the week that we see Concepcion Junkins just kind of get going on this thing?
05:37Did we see the running game actually have some success and try to work their way out to maybe try
05:43to, I don't know,
05:44have a 100-yard rusher and average 100 yards per game?
05:49Yeah, that's – again, I thought that that was going to be the case against Carolina and it wasn't, right?
05:56Right.
05:56We talked to Travis Switzer this morning and, you know, he was asked about Quinchon,
06:01if it's a health thing.
06:03And Switzer said, no, I've seen it from the spring.
06:08He's healthy.
06:09And then he snuck in there.
06:11Maybe it takes a little bit for the vision to come back.
06:14And we are in a new offensive system.
06:17And he didn't say that specifically that's what was going on.
06:21But he did slide that in there.
06:22He said, you know, you've got to talk to him.
06:24I don't think it's a health thing.
06:25Maybe it's a vision thing.
06:26Maybe it's a new system thing.
06:27Whatever.
06:28And I just – I did find those comments to be somewhat interesting.
06:33And, again, maybe it is, you know, it's going to take Quinchon a little time here.
06:37But he's – I think he's had maybe one 100-yard game rushing in his last 18 games.
06:42And this is a player that we, and myself included, believe that, you know,
06:46he could run for 100 yards with his eyes closed.
06:49So, you know, maybe it is a vision thing.
06:53Maybe it is a comfort thing within the offense or whatever.
06:56But to Quinchon's credit, okay?
06:58Yeah.
06:59He's not been a zero when it comes to production.
07:01He is – he's helping when it comes to blocking down the field.
07:05He's helping when it comes to catching the football, coming out of the backfield.
07:09He's the third-leading receiver on the team with 15 catches behind Harold Fannin Jr.
07:15and Casey Concepcion, who I think has 17 apiece.
07:18So, even though the run game isn't what we all believe it should be or want it to be
07:24or whatnot, Quinchon is finding a way to positively impact things offensively.
07:30Should the Browns even be thinking about trading a guy like Jerry Judy?
07:34I don't know that they are, but should they be?
07:36I say no right now, Daryl.
07:39I mean, if someone comes to you with an offer, I mean, you listen, right?
07:43I mean, that's Andrew Barry's job.
07:45And, look, do I – you know, do I think he could be a trade candidate?
07:49A hundred percent, right?
07:50I agree with that, but –
07:51You want all your – you know, you want your attention and your focus organizationally
07:56to be on these young players.
07:58Fannin, Concepcion, Judkins, right?
08:01Rocket Sanders, you know, Denzel Boston.
08:04Like, that's where you want your focus to be.
08:06Now, I do have to give Judy some credit.
08:09While the body language would appear, and I want to stress appear,
08:14because just because it appears to be something doesn't mean that it's, you know, reality.
08:17But although the body language at times does not appear to be positive
08:22when it comes to Jerry Judy, he's still blocking.
08:25He's still clearly involved in trying to help where he can help,
08:30even when he's not catching footballs, okay?
08:34You know, he's only got five catches for 62 yards.
08:36Three of those came against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
08:39Two of those came on the game-winning drive.
08:42And so, I think that that's what this might be for him going forward.
08:48You know, Todd Munkin has said, hey, he's a role player, okay?
08:50He lost his start – you know, he lost his primary receiver job to the rookies.
08:54And by the way, he should have.
08:55He's not an X.
08:57He's not a number one wide receiver.
08:59He is a two or a three.
09:03So, to me, he's in the role that he should be in.
09:08And so, you know, do I think that the Browns should actively shop Jerry Judy?
09:15No, because I don't think Jerry Judy is causing any problems.
09:18And, again, when he's getting his opportunities, he's, you know, making the most of it.
09:23But if the phone rings and you get offered a little something-something that you really like,
09:27then, yeah, I don't think it would be detrimental to this team's growth and development
09:34if they were to trade him in a couple weeks.
09:36So, Darrell, last question.
09:38Do you like the Browns this week?
09:39I'm just reiterating.
09:41I have picked them to win.
09:43We got the preview on YouTube right now, myself and Lance Reisland.
09:47I picked the Browns to win.
09:48But I am very concerned that this is a trap game.
09:53But I do have them winning this game and coming home 4-1.
09:57Okay, D.
09:58I'm with you on that, by the way, on everything you said there.
10:01You better be careful.
10:02I think this is actually a very telling game for the Browns.
10:05Yeah, absolutely.
10:07You know what?
10:08This is a test of the maturity as a football team, right?
10:11There's a lot of really good stuff being written and talked about with them,
10:16and deservedly so.
10:17They've earned it, right?
10:18Now, hey, how do you handle the press clippings, okay?
10:21And I'm going to tell you right now, Todd Munkin's been on these guys this week
10:25in practice, at least in the park, open to reporters.
10:28But Todd Munkin's on these guys every week in practice.
10:31So, you know, he gets a lot of credit from my standpoint for this team being
10:39aware of that.
10:39They clearly listen, and he's rubbing off on them,
10:42and he's certainly affecting what they're doing on the field in a very
10:46positive manner.
10:47And, you know, hopefully that continues Sunday in New York,
10:50or I should say New Jersey, against the Jets.
10:52Thanks, buddy.
10:53Appreciate your time.
10:55You bet, guys.
