The latest Cleveland Browns news and notes from around the NFL in the Sunday Dawg Chow.
The Cleveland Browns are back at it today as they travel to Florida to face the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Surprisingly for a franchise that has struggled since returning to the NFL in 1999, Jacksonville has been welcoming to the Browns. Cleveland has won four of their last six road games against the Jaguars, including the most recent visit in 2020.
This is a new season and a new team, of course, one where the defense lost itself on the road last season and the offense continues to find any sort of rhythm with quarterback Deshaun Watson running the show.
The season won’t be lost with a defeat today, although starting 0-2 is not a path to the playoffs, so the Browns need to come out ready to play this afternoon.
To help everyone get ready for another Sunday of Browns football, Dawgs By Nature has the latest news and notes about the Browns and the rest of the NFL in today’s edition of the Sunday Dawg Chow.
Dawgs By Nature:
- How bad was Deshaun Watson in Week 1? (Thomas Moore) – Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had a day to forget in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
- Browns vs. Jaguars: 3 things will decide if Cleveland wins in Week 2 (Curtiss Brown) – The Cleveland Browns need their offense, especially quarterback Deshaun Watson, to get fixed and quick.
- Browns-Jaguars FanDuel Week 2 prop bets: Bet on Jerome Ford, and the defense getting a pick (Chris Pokorny) – The Cleveland Browns are on the road today against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season. The Browns are 3-point underdogs against the Jaguars, and here are my favorite player prop bets from the Browns’ perspective for the game.
- Browns make roster moves ahead of Week 2 game against Jaguars (Thomas Moore) – The Cleveland Browns made a series of roster moves on Saturday in preparation for their Week 2 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The club signed wide receiver James Proche II and linebacker Winston Reid to the active roster from the practice squad. They also elevated offensive tackle Germain Ifedi and tight end Blake Whiteheart from the practice squad to the active roster.
Cleveland Browns:
- About Deshaun Watson’s contract, about Watson the QB & Watson fatigue (Terry Pluto) – “I just want this to go away.” I’ve been hearing this over and over from many Browns fans when it comes to Deshaun Watson.
- New or renovated Browns stadium won’t yield economic benefits for Cleveland, experts say (cleveland.com) – More jobs, more tax revenue, more spending at local businesses — all totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits for the Cleveland area. These are the grand, alluring promises that team officials and politicians are expected to peddle when and if the city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Browns strike a publicly subsidized lease-extension deal to renovate the lakefront stadium. But it’s all bunk, say economists who study public stadium financing.
- Road work ahead: Defense out to reverse 2023 struggles away from home (Browns Zone) – The discrepancy in the Cleveland Browns defense’s performance at home vs. on the road last year was such a popular topic of discussion, safety Grant Delpit had a joke ready before the first road trip of this season.
- Cleveland Browns consultant Mike Vrabel relishes Walsh Jesuit jersey retirement (Beacon Journal) – NFL great Mike Vrabel attended a pregame party at Walsh Jesuit High School on Friday night, mingled with students in the stands, participated in the coin toss and gave a speech in the Warriors locker room just before kickoff. During a ceremony at the end of the first quarter in Walsh’s 42-7 win over St. Ignatius, the Warriors retired the jersey number Vrabel wore as a high school football star. He became the first athlete in Walsh history to receive the honor.
NFL:
- Niners placing Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve (NFL.com) – The San Francisco 49ers emerged from Week 1 victorious in star running back Christian McCaffrey’s absence. They’ll attempt to keep doing the same without him now for at least the next four weeks.
- How Jim Harbaugh’s coaching path began with 1-15 Panthers (ESPN) – It was the day after the Carolina Panthers suffered their 15th straight loss to end a 1-15 season in 2001. Jim Harbaugh didn’t tell his parents he was calling it quits as a player that day. But he knew after 15 seasons and consecutive 1-15 records with the then-San Diego Chargers and Panthers it was time to follow in the footsteps of his father and older brother, John. It was time to coach.
- The definitive guide to the NFL’s new dynamic kickoff (The Ringer) – I watched all 172 kickoffs from Week 1 so you don’t have to. But before we get into the nine takeaways and trends I picked up from this deep dive into the dynamic kickoff, let’s recap what exactly is happening here, and why the NFL made this change.
