00:00We're going to the Wise Art, right?
00:01We make it right.
00:02Call Kyle Wright Hotline to talk about your first place, Cleveland Browns.
00:07That's right, Mary Kay Cabot.
00:09I'm sorry, again, what did you say?
00:11Your first place, Cleveland Browns.
00:13Oh, yeah, baby.
00:14Plain dealer.
00:15You know and love her from there.
00:16You can also see her all the time on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
00:19She is Mary Kay Cabot.
00:21Hi, Mary Kay.
00:22How does it feel to cover a first place team?
00:24Well, it's been a while, actually.
00:29You know, this late in the season, especially.
00:33So, you know, it's actually a heck of a lot more fun to cover a winning football team
00:39than it is to cover a real losing football team at this time of year
00:42because everybody's still excited.
00:44Everybody's still into it.
00:45Guys want to talk to you.
00:47There are great feature stories to write.
00:49And it's just so much more fun, I know, for the fans and everyone.
00:52So going to just enjoy it while we can.
00:56It's kind of bizarre that this team's offense is as lowly ranked.
01:04How about that?
01:05In all of these statistical categories.
01:08You are so nice.
01:09Well, I say that because the fourth quarters have been great.
01:13Lowly ranked in points and total yards.
01:16Yet has come through when it's needed to, Mary Kay.
01:19And the team is 4-2 with an offense that really hasn't been very good overall.
01:24That's a weird combination.
01:27Well, it is a weird combination.
01:29But the good news on that is they're still going through their growing pains.
01:33They're still figuring things out.
01:35They don't have their act together yet.
01:37The young guys are still learning their way.
01:39The offensive line is still coming together.
01:42Deshaun Watson is still in some ways knocking off some of the rust and things like that.
01:46So I really think that, you know, they have an opportunity to get better as the weeks go by.
01:53And if they can just keep winning and hang in there while things aren't going great,
01:58then they should be able to make a little bit of a run and keep things interesting in December.
02:03Okay, so make the offense better for me, will you?
02:05I think plays like Jerry Judy's make things better.
02:09But it would be nice to see a couple of those earlier so we're not sweating bullets.
02:12I know I should just be so happy they're winning.
02:15I'd like them to win in a much less stressful fashion.
02:19How does that sound?
02:21Well, I think there are a number of things going on.
02:23First of all, they really have to continue to crank up that running game in any way that they can.
02:28They have to figure that out.
02:29Even if they have to trade for a running back, whatever they have to do,
02:33they need to get the running game going so that they can take some of that heat and pressure off
02:39Deshaun Watson.
02:40And then Deshaun Watson, I think he is thinking a little bit too much.
02:45He really understands what defenses are trying to do to him, and he really tries to diagnose that.
02:52But even he mentioned after the game that he was thinking too much.
02:56So I think they're going to have to maybe simplify some of that for him or at least get him
03:01just playing and letting it rip a little bit more
03:04and perhaps analyzing a little bit less and trying to think of what he can do on the play or
03:12with his feet or whatever
03:13and taking too much time to do that.
03:15There's not as much time as he thinks there is.
03:18So they've got to have a lot of different options going on out there.
03:22Now, in this past game, in the first half, they were going to try to run screens in the short
03:26game more,
03:27and the Ravens kind of sat on that.
03:29But then they made the adjustment to throwing it over the middle and realizing that the middle of the field
03:36was open,
03:36and they exploited that in the second half, and that's how they made a lot of their hay.
03:42Mary Kay, what's your gut feeling on how close Quinshawn was to playing this last game
03:47and how close he might be playing to playing against Tennessee and Dylan Sampson's return as well?
03:54Yeah, I think that'll really help to have Dylan back.
03:57I would argue that he's perhaps their most dynamic runner.
04:01So that one-two punch, I think, will really be beneficial.
04:04As far as Quinshawn, he came pretty close.
04:06He went out there and tried to work out before the game to see if he could get the job
04:11done
04:11and didn't really feel like he could.
04:13So he must be pretty close for this week, and that should certainly help.
04:17And then they just have to keep working it from the blocking angle.
04:20Those guys have got to learn their runners.
04:23The runners have to learn the blockers, and they just all have to come together as one.
04:27Do you think they go out and pick up another running back at any point here?
04:31Or do you feel like they feel like these guys will?
04:33You just kind of answered it, but when they could come back.
04:36But there's a part of me wondering if they need to go out and get somebody else.
04:39I thought the guys did a decent job last week at least.
04:42Well, if they had everybody healthy, I think that they would be okay.
04:46Because then you have Quinshawn, then you have Dylan Sampson, then you have Raheem Sanders back.
04:51And that's a pretty good running back room.
04:53But we know Raheem is on IR right now with a hip injury, and Quinshawn is working his way back.
05:00So I doubt that they actually will go out and trade for a running back or anything like that.
05:05Because once they get a full complement in the room, they should be okay.
05:10How impressive to you has the defense been?
05:13And did you expect it to be as good as it's been, especially when you factor in no Mason Graham,
05:20no Mike Hall, no Grant Delpit as well?
05:23Well, I thought the defense was going to be really, really good, again, because they kept most of their personnel
05:30intact.
05:31And they kept all of those assistant coaches intact.
05:34So they really weren't reinventing the wheel on that side of the ball.
05:37So I still thought the defense was going to be really good.
05:39And I thought that Jared Burst would really help make up for some of that sack production they lost with
05:45Miles Garrett.
05:46That hasn't happened yet, but the defense is still humming along.
05:50So when Jared Burst kind of finds his sack voice and his pressure voice a little bit more, then I
05:56think it'll be that much better.
05:58I think once Mason Graham and Mike Hall are back in there, I think that's going to really help Jared
06:02Burst.
06:03I think he's taking more attention right now than he's probably used to.
06:07So I think once those guys get back, it's going to help everything.
06:12I think Mike Hall was kind of underrated just in terms of his explosiveness this year and what he was
06:17bringing to the table.
06:18So I think once he and Mason get back together, I think this defense is really going to be dynamite.
06:24But it's fun to watch because I have been saying since Miles Garrett was traded that I thought that could
06:29be sort of addition by subtraction.
06:32And I think it's really proved to be that.
06:35Mary Kay, let's see.
06:36I think we're, what, three weeks away from the trade deadline?
06:40Is that right, the 10th?
06:42What do you think the Browns are looking at?
06:44I mean, I know I brought up Jerry Judy a second ago, but, you know, when you talk about the
06:48trade deadline, his name was on it.
06:49And I think Jeff and I were talking about this the other day that I kind of don't want to
06:53see his name on the trade block right now after what we saw
06:56and what maybe he could be able to do to help this team out, especially with the young wide receivers.
07:01Your thoughts on trade deadline and what could be happening?
07:04And with the quarterback situation, too.
07:06Well, let me first start with Jerry Judy.
07:09I've been writing for weeks and weeks that he is not on the trading block.
07:12The Browns have no intentions of trading him.
07:14And we saw the reason why on Sunday.
07:17He can come up big in big moments.
07:19You need your receiver depth.
07:21There's no way you're going to part with a guy like that.
07:23So that's not happening.
07:25And I think the great thing about Jerry, and I wrote a column about this yesterday,
07:29is the fact that he embodies the spirit of what Todd Munkin is trying to build here.
07:34He just put his head down and went to work after he got demoted off of that starting X spot.
07:39He stayed ready.
07:40He's worked really hard on his hands.
07:42He's worked really hard, as he always does, on his route running.
07:45He's gotten better.
07:46I think he has a nice connection with Deshaun.
07:49And I think you will see more of Jerry Judy going forward, and that's going to be this ball game.
07:54As far as the quarterbacks are concerned, I've been also writing for weeks and weeks
07:58that they have no intentions of trading Shador Sanders or Dylan Gabriel.
08:03And they will have to make a decision at some point on if they want to keep four,
08:07which is their preference.
08:08They might not be able to do it because they have injuries and they have to fill spots.
08:13So if they had to do something, I think the choice, even though they wouldn't want to do it,
08:18would be to try to get Kaelin Green back onto the practice squad.
08:21But as of right now, unless someone comes through with an offer that they can't refuse,
08:25I think they will be keeping both Shador and Dylan.
08:29Mary Kay Cabot joining us from the Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com,
08:32her Orange and Brown Talk podcast as well.
08:34You want to hear Mary Kay and her cohorts on that.
08:38You guys do a nice job.
08:41I liked the Miles Garrett trade when it was made.
08:44I think it's going to pay huge dividends down the road.
08:47And I like Jared Verse.
08:48Has Jared had the impact yet that they're looking for, Mary Kay?
08:53No, not in terms of sack production and maybe even pressure production.
08:59But I do think that he has a chance of getting there.
09:03He's still getting his sea legs in a new scheme.
09:05He's still figuring out the attack-style defense.
09:09He's still figuring out a 4-3 front.
09:12But once he gets it, once the lights come on,
09:15then the Browns are going to be the beneficiaries of that.
09:18And I think that will be really good for everyone.
09:20I will say this, talking about the trade deadline,
09:23if it were me, I would be trying to trade for Khalil Mack.
09:27I really don't think that the Chargers need him right now,
09:31and I think the Browns do.
09:33So if I were them, I would be on that phone trying to pick up Khalil Mack.
09:37I think that would also bring out the best in Jared Verse,
09:40to have somebody over there that can take a little bit of that heat off of him.
09:46So I would be looking for somebody like that or Khalil Mack himself.
09:50He'd be a great addition.
09:52I agree.
09:53Mary Kay, last question for me.
09:54The team is starting to actually get some respect around the league, too,
09:58where I was reading this morning they were ranked ninth in a power ranking,
10:03which I never thought I would see during the season
10:05when they were hanging out from, like, 28 to the bottom.
10:10I'm just curious, I wonder how the rest of the country is looking at them right now
10:15because I think, as we were talking about this in the break,
10:17that, you know, we see the first three quarters where the offense is really struggling,
10:21but, you know, the defense held its own last week
10:24in being able to make sure that they did have a chance in the fourth quarter
10:28to make it, you know, a one-score game.
10:30Can you just talk about the respect maybe the organization might be getting
10:33and the team itself by having a little bit of a winning streak here early on?
10:38Well, people are starting to wake up to the Cleveland Browns a little bit,
10:41and I think as they move along, the defense can keep them in most games.
10:47Now, they have to get better on offense, especially in the first half of games.
10:51That's imperative, or they're not going to go anywhere.
10:54But I did see something on ESPN Analytics yesterday
10:58where they outlined the chances of playoffs for the AFC North teams,
11:03and they had the Browns, I think, at the bottom.
11:06And so I still think they have a little ways to go in the respect factor,
11:13and I think one of the major reasons for that is people don't want to buy in yet
11:18on Deshaun White.
11:20That stock is just not selling that great yet,
11:23and I think it's more valuable than a lot of other people might think it is
11:28because you do not win the game in the fourth quarter with a fourth quarter comeback
11:33unless your quarterback is pulling that off for you.
11:36And he's now done that four times, which is a league high.
11:39So I think he deserves more credit for that.
11:42I think people are a bit jaded by what happens earlier on in the game,
11:45but you have to give credit where credit is due.
11:48And remember, they had a good defense each of the past two seasons,
11:51and they weren't finishing games.
11:53Now they're finishing games because they have the quarterback who is able to close it out.
11:58So, Mary Kay, thank you.
12:00We appreciate you.
12:01And, of course, we're reading every day in the PlainDealerCleveland.com.
12:03Thanks, Mary Kay.
12:03Thank you, Mary Kay.
12:05Thank you, guys.
12:06It was interesting, that last one about buying in on Deshaun.
12:10I wonder if Browns fans are.
12:13216-474-0092.
12:14216-474-0092.
12:17Are you buying what we're seeing right now?
12:20I mean, he's putting up some numbers in the fourth quarter
12:22that have been pretty impressive.
12:24216-474-0092.
12:26Baskin Phelps.
