GaryPinC

Unfortunately for him, it's out of necessity not because he's ready. Colt looked pretty bad this preseason, Browns fans can only hope he's progressed rapidly since then. Really a shame because IMO Cleveland is really on the verge of becoming a decent team in this league. Hopefully Colt doesn't get obliterated out there and Seneca Wallace gets back quickly. It'll be rough if Peyton Hillis can't play either.

Agree with you, but he needs to focus on trying to be an 3-4 OLB. Right now our defense system has little stability and the D is also playing horribly. Coaches need to give up using him as a down lineman, keep him in space and committed to OLB in a 3-4. Can't see playing him right now because how do you get into a comfort zone and learn to play in a defense like ours? Hopefully later in the season. And then every down, not just passing downs.

+1 This is exactly it. At best latter half of the season before plugging Brohm in. Even if you believe he has potential, why get him killed trying to adjust to the pace of a live NFL game? Get the offense on solid ground first.

I watched the Brady Quinn experiment here in Cleveland and to me, he went from a guy who was struggling to master the NFL offense to a guy (in his last few games) who seemed to finally understand it but was overthrowing the ball and highly inaccurate. To me, he still may have some potential as an NFL quarterback but do you really want to give up something to get him? If he gets cut he might be worth a look though.

I started to think it was coaching but now I really don't know. There's been enough talk over the last couple years about players not executing, coaching is not the problem etc. Now you hear it some more this year and I wonder if some players on this defense are just punching the timecard. Certainly part of it is the talent level of the defense but I suspect there's more to it than that. We'll see.

Maybe the reverse is true and Sully wrote his column after 6 PM.

You do realize it's the job of the scouts to do in-depth analysis and research on all this "talent"? Seems like GM's and coaches only get significant exposure to the draft class at the senior bowls and combines, I would guess they rely a lot on the scouting reports, as they should. It's easy to look at the history of poor drafting in the early rounds and blame it on the coaches/GM making the final decision, but I doubt they pulled decisions like Maybin, Whitner and the others from way down on the scouts' depth chart. At least part of the blame lies from the scouting department's inability to properly rank this talent. And after 10 years of different decision makers not being able to consistantly draft talent, you've got to wonder about the ability of the scouting department. Troup and Carrington are lucky if they both dress for a game, let alone get on the field more than a handful of plays. IMO, our scouting department can consistantly identify legitimate DB talent. Other than that, I've not been impressed.

I think Lee's happy to collect a paycheck and doesn't care that much about winning. He seldom gets the ball so he seldom gets hit, hey he should retire in pretty good shape!

Have to agree, watched most of the 1st half, Kelsay made a couple tackles but also got run by on one play and was completely turned towards the sideline on the other. The guy seems to have zero awareness where the football is until it's right next to him and sometimes he can get his hands on the guy, most times not. Huge waste of money.

Trent's biggest problem is he has no "feel" for the NFL game. He only throws to guys wide open, he does not let the receiver patterns develop and he's not one to trust a receiver to make a play. A big part of being an NFL quarterback is reading the defense, knowing the patterns your guys will run, and putting the ball to a spot where there's a gap in the defense your guy will be moving into when he completes his pattern. One of the more telling aspects about his approach was about a week or so ago he was asked if he would prefer to call his own plays or adjustments. He said something to the effect of "No, I'd rather have the planned play and a list of checks given to me". After all the crappy offensive play he's endured over the years, his lack of desire to call his own plays spoke volumes about his leadership abilities and lack of feel for the game. He's suffered enough here, and I do wish the best for him. But he was a big problem with the offense's execution (certainly not the only one though). CG and multiple receivers all but came out and fingered the QB, so we can now try and improve the offense instead of just treading water. Even if TE somehow does become a good NFL QB, I don't think it would ever have happened here.

I also don't understand why they didn't put him on the PS in the first place(at the start of the season). I realize we had 3 QB's already but none are very impressive, so if CG really liked Brown why not put him on the PS just in case? He'd have been learning the offense better instead of sitting around and trying out for other teams. I support how they handled Trent, they had to give him one last chance and they quickly cut bait, but I'm not too impressed with their actions concerning Levi.

Bill Walsh liked him and the Bills have been traditionally incompetent w/ regards to coaching and front office, so someone will give him a look. Even if Trent goes to a team with a decent o-line and gains some confidence, the minute he gets hit hard he'll revert back to the QB we all know. Good luck to him and the team that grabs him.

The willingness to release TE at minimum means they're comfortable with Brohm as a backup. Keep Fitz in there until at least mid season and let the offense continue to come together than get Brohm in there.

Don't forget to include 1987. I know their record ended up 7-8 but that was the year you could see it starting to come together and that they were on the cusp of becoming a really good team. At season's end the rest of the league knew it too. I enjoy that year almost as much as the rest.

Really? Doesn't sound like it: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2010/09/laywer-for-mike-leach-says-coach-is-not-a-candidate-for-new-mexico-job/1

I really think there's an informal contest in the Pats locker room to see who fluffs up the Buffalo Bills the best. Bellichek always does this then at least one of his players tries to top him. http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2010/09/wilfork_bills_r.html They must do an awful lot of laughing even before Donte hears it during the game.

I haven't seen Byrd make a difference on defense this year. Does that now mean he's not that talented? Certainly opponents will exploit weaknesses but that doesn't mean there's a dearth of talent at every position. Lee seems pretty talented, as does Roscoe. Our defensive secondary seems pretty talented also. Nix and the coaching staff think Bell is a talent. Wood and Levitre seem to have a decent amount of talent. Part of the plan this year is to see who can develop their talents and be an impact player in this league. I don't have a problem moving Lynch or Jackson but don't be so quick to condemn this team so early in the year with a new coaching staff/new O&D systems.

[ For me it's a toss-up as to whether our LB or QB situation is the bigger problem. And I'd have to say QB because there are very few who can handle excelling in the NFL, whereas you can build a decent LB core without having a superstar. Also, it usually takes 2-4 years to prepare a QB to succeed in the NFL. As far as the "rebuilding", it seems obvious to me that Buddy and Chan realized 1. It was going to take more than 1 year to fix, especially when changing your defensive system. and 2. There are a lot of young guys on this team with upside potential so why not see if they will develop while other positions are addressed? Defensive line seems adequate at this point which is actually a positive considering the overhaul. This seemed to be the priority of the draft and so far it's turned out okay. Offensive line is still trying to adjust to the scheme, despite Stroud's quote about it not being the scheme. They are thinking too much and failing to adjust to defensive stunts. I think it's better to not judge this group until mid/second half of the season when they can stop thinking so much and just play. Bell hasn't looked too bad to me (improving), Cordero Howard seemed to do ok, Cornell Green does need to be replaced though. Early in the year, I really believe Nix felt Bell will develop, Levitre + Wood are good young players, Hangartner is a solid (though not spectacular) player and Butler is a smart, solid player. Then Butler retired. That really threw a wrench into the plan. So instead of one big question mark on the o-line we've unexpectedly got 2. Still not that bad to me. LB's though. Poz is a huge question mark being injury prone, Davis is ok. OLB is a huge question mark, be nice if Ellis is decent but really we need Maybin to step up before the end of the year and develop into at least a decent OLB capable of making a few big plays. That would really help a lot moving forward into next year's draft. QB situation isn't worth discussing given all the countless debates. This year's going to suck for at least the first half. Our frustation is so high from these past 10 years but I wish people would keep a perspective on this year and not be so reactionnary this early in the rebuilding year. It's going to take time.

I only caught the first half yesterday but noticed on more than one occasion the O-lineman weren't shifting their blocks to account for defensive stunts around the tackles. We'd end up with an interior lineman with no one to block while his man stunted around our tackle (especially on the left side). This line isn't as bad as all the doomsayers say. They still need time to pick up the nuances of Gailey's offensive system and that will simply take time. I thought Howard did a good job of filling in from what I saw of him. Green is still most clearly our worst lineman though. Patience is understandably in short supply but we'll see what we've got around mid-season.

Thought this was a great story, For those who don't remember Kevin Everitt was the Bills TE/ST player who suffered a serious spinal injury and has had an excellent recovery. At the center of all this was the fact that the treating medical personnel used therapeutic hypothermia to cool his body and aid his recovery. At the time there was much debate as to whether the hypothermia technique had played a role in his recovery or not. Here's a separate but inspiring story where induced hypothermia saved this boy's life: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39215752/ns/today-today_people/?GT1=43001 The story just made me remember Kevin. Pretty cool stuff.

Everyone here seems to be forgetting that we have a brand new coaching staff, brand new offensive system, terminology, etc. While the preseason was encouraging, now there are no vanilla defenses and the o-line is going to have problems executing the play called while also adjusting their blocking assignments for defensive stunts. I only saw the game on the internet (hard to see individual players). Seemed like everyone on the line had breakdowns at various times, the only position that seemed to have more of them was the right tackle position. Trent did not have a great pocket but he had time to throw on many occasions, just not sure if it was appropriate amount for the play called. Our offense looked like an offense with a new coaching staff/playbook. It's going to take time. I'm most disappointed with Chan Gailey in all this. Couldn't run at first and the guy pretty much went passing game most of the game. This team has got to focus on the run. Seems like Spiller was mostly in the backfield alone when his number was called and that Miami was keying on him. Put Marshawn in there and fake to Spiller. This is why we brought Chan in, to really change things up isn't it? But maybe the playbook is too limited at this point of the season. I thought Trent pulled himself together well for that touchdown drive and that was encouraging to see. His refusal to slide on scrambling plays should make an injury inevitable to those who wish him out. I thought his poise was better than last year but obviously results were the same. It's easy to lump this game in with the last few years but I won't at this point. These first 4 games will be difficult and all may be brutal for the offense, we'll have to wait until at least mid season to assess where we are in terms of coaching and cohesiveness. Chan's already talking about simplifying the offensive playbook for Green Bay, that tells you our O-line is still trying to adjust to the new system.

Some great games but opening day 1980 has to be it. A decade of losing to the Phins, trying to be optimistic but doubting the unknown. Bills hung on, posts ripped down, the whole town went nuts. I was 10 and that was the first year in my life no one made fun of the Bills. "Nixon for President" "We're Talking Proud". Great stuff!

Hopefully this isn't because Parcells is seriously ill.

Sounds like all the NFL preseason games use local guys (especially retired players) to do their games. Cleveland's no different and if you think all these other guys are bad you should see Bernie Kosar on the air. The guy does this bad attempt at a combover, looks unkept and uncomfortable in front of the camera, and has this scratchy, gravelly voice. Grammar isn't that good and usually ends up slurring his words by the second half at the latest. The real kicker is that he's IMO one of the best analysts I've ever listened to. The guy is hugely insightful, explaining formations on both sides, what the QB's trying to do and is thinking etc. Just painful to listen to though.

I haven't been able to see all our quarterbacks perform this preseason, but given the uncertainty of how the OL will perform this season, and Trent's history with injuries it makes the most sense to keep your 3 most experienced qb's and chance your rookie to the PS. Unless Brown's really close to Brohm's level of play, which it sounds like he's not.