On Thursday, Browns running back Jamal Lewis made known his displeasure regarding the extent to which coach Eric Mangini has overworked the team this year. In the wake of Lewis’ comments, we were told that most if not all of the other players agree with him.
With no other Cleveland player going on the record to confirm or dispute Lewis’ remarks, it might have been hard to tell whether they indeed support him.
Until Friday, when according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal several teammates began chanting in the locker room, “J-Lew! J-Lew!“
”I got support,” Lewis said, per Ridenour. “Does this look like a divided locker room to y’all? Huh, does it? No.”
(That said, one of the guys who led the cheers later tried to claim that the outburst was unrelated to Lewis’ remarks. And to that we say, “Child please.”)
Lewis’ assertion that the locker room isn’t divided conflicts with an implicit message from the Friday remarks of coach Eric Mangini, who while defending his practice habits and workload (he says that the team practices for only two hours, not three) commented on the reality that it’s impossible to keep all players happy.
“You go down in the locker room 50 percent of the guys want to do it that way, 50 percent want to do it the other way,” Mangini said. “You change it and half the group is happy and half the group is not happy. It’s the same thing with itineraries, when you have 53 guys, consensus isn’t always easy to come by. I feel good about the way that we practice. I feel good about the time that we practice. The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way. Then we are going to repeat that play and we are going to do it again because it’s important that we get it right.”
Mangini also said that he meets with team captains every Thursday. When asked whether the other captains agreed with Lewis’ message at the most recent Thursday meeting, Mangini said, “No, the meeting was good.”
At the same time, Mangini does not seem to be inclined to take action against Lewis, even though Mangini apparently has convinced himself that Lewis’ views are not widespread in the locker room.
In our view, Mangini knows he’s walking a fine line here. Though he needs to defend the manner in which he runs practices, he also needs to avoid a full-blown mutiny. As a result, if meaningful changes aren’t quietly made behind the scenes, the decision not to come down on Lewis for engaging in conduct clearly detrimental to the notion of “team” that Mangini has been trying to establish means that Lewis and possibly others will be empowered to pop off in the future.
Still, it appears that Mangini managed to calm Lewis down during and after the Thursday captains meeting. Indeed, Lewis said Friday that his comments were “kinda blown out of proportion,” and that “we settled things in house.”
A win Monday night against the Ravens would go a long way toward consummating that settlement.
Mangini may be the coach, but Jamal Lewis is the person the team is going to follow. Mangini has lost the battle, the war is next. It’s Lewis’s team now, not his.
Until Friday, when according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal several teammates began chanting in the locker room, “J-Lew! J-Lew!”
Could it be at all possible that Ridenour misheard and that in fact the Browns players were simplemindedly chanting because they were happy that they had just received the new J. Crew Christmas catalogues?
Three hours of practice? God forbid these men actually work!
For all the bunk about how hard football is on the human body, I’m guessing these guys wouldn’t last a week as plasterers.
Who cares. Neither will be a part of the Browns organization after the season is over. (If you consider it not over already.)
Maybe Mangini can name his next kid Jamal.
I can’t remember a head coach loosing the team so fast. anybody know the record for shortest head coaching job, look it up and call Guinness.
A win Monday night against the Ravens would go a long way toward consummating that settlement.
=====================================
That has about as much a chance of happening as Mangina winning the lotto, quitting coaching, and taking up needlepoint.
I’m not a Jets fan, but I thught Mangini kind of got a raw deal in New York. He had a playoff appearance and would have had one last year if Farve hadn’t self imploded (or caught Polio, broke his arm, was jinxed by a Gypsie or whatever other ails he had), but he has been a disaster in Cleveland. I wnder who is worse – Mangini or Kottite?
Thats a lot of hours worked for a coke trafficker..
Avoid a mutiny????
It’s already done.
All of this extra practice time takes away from Lewis’s time to broker coke deals…that’s why he’s so upset.
CHILD PLEASE
Well, Mangini certainly seems to have created some team spirit in the locker room.
Any chance that Lewis might be tabbed as the interim coach?
Glad to see Mangini has finally unified the team and brought it together. A first for him. Unfortunately they are only together because of their dislike of him. If he can just stay out of their way maybe the Browns could actually win. But ego has always gotten in the way of Mangini winning I don’t see how things will ever change there. He just might be the dumbest smart guy I have ever seen.
The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way.
=================================
Are they still out there???
Florio,
You’ve once again, ignored what you didn’t want to post.
Jamal Lewis had already said publicly that the Media twisted his words and that is not what he meant.
He has already talked to Mangini and they have sorted that out, and they have just brushed it off as yet another spin by the Media.
Guess What? Your doing the same thing Florio. It’s pathetic, and what’s even worse, I feel sorry that you think that this kind of crap is needed to keep your site frequently visited.
wrath4771 I agree with you that mangini got a raw deal in ny. The difference between ny and cle though is ny had more talent and a veteren qb in chad pennington. Quinn is unproven and DA is hot and cold (mostly cold since 07). IMO Cle is becoming the new oakland, where your hired to get fired and constantly surrounded by controversy. After RAC was fired for being too soft, and savage too careless, everyone was convinced we needed needed experience and discipline. They got it in mangini–which according to everyone hasn’t worked out in 8 games with a bad team. Although I don’t agree with how mangini has handled certain things so far this season, I’d like to see how this plays out given a chance. If one thing is certain cle needs continuity at the hc. Once mangini is gone after this season the next coach and gm in cle better win right away or there will be petitions to sell the team and protests. We won’t have to worry about national tv bc we won’t see that for a long time.
“The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way. Then we are going to repeat that play and we are going to do it again because it’s important that we get it right.”
Since they haven’t appeared to get anything right it appears Mangina isn’t over working them.
bearsrule…it’s Lewis’ team now? He is a shell of his former self and he’s retiring after the season. I’m not sticking up for Mangini, but it’s definitely not Lewis’ team…after this year at least. Half these bums will be on practice squads around the league next year and Lewis will be fishin. I don’t hate Lewis, I’m just saying he’s retiring, so who cares?
DemsAreIdiots says:
November 14, 2009 10:34 AM
The only time that practices are extended is if we don’t execute something the right way.
=================================
Are they still out there???
———————————————-
Hystrerical!!!
Where’s GreNader when you need ‘m?
“Once mangini is gone after this season the next coach and gm in cle better win right away or there will be petitions to sell the team and protests.”
I don’t buy that. Being NE Ohio born-and-bred myself, people there know their football, and they’re some of the most loyal fans on the planet. What they did in forcing the NFL’s hand in the late 90s and the success this pitiful organization has had selling tickets are all the confirmation of that needed.
I don’t think a new coach and GM need to win right away, but they do need to show they’re on the right track. CLE fans will be plenty patient if they can see where it is going… but right now this thing is a rudderless ship, and it’s already on the rocks. The owner, to this point, has been too arrogant to learn from his mistakes and has lacked the backbone to make any of the tough decisions. Without dredging up the embarrassing mistakes of the past two regimes, the current one, by all appearances, has no plan. Mangini’s losing the players in the locker room, the team’s unbelievable PR foibles are losing the fans, and there is no conceivable way to find any positive direction in all of this–that is the problem. CLE fans are an optimistic bunch–they will fill the seats, even for a losing team, if there is some reason to hope. Mangini (and Lerner) have destroyed any small shred of hope that existed, and that is the problem. It’s not about win-now-or-you’re-gone, it’s about making smart football decisions–the fans will respond. These guys have yet to do that.
“You go down in the locker room 50 percent of the guys want to do it that way, 50 percent want to do it the other way,” Mangini said. “You change it and half the group is happy and half the group is not happy. It’s the same thing with itineraries, when you have 53 guys, consensus isn’t always easy to come by.”
Did this guy suffer some kind of brain damage since he left New England????
If there’s one thing we all know about the Patriots, it’s that every swinging d–k on that roster listens to what Bill Belichick and his staff tells them. You never hear any of this “50% want it this way, the other 50% want it another” crap from these guys, and I don’t recall hearing anything like that out of Indianapolis of Pittsburgh either, for that matter.
Fatgini was there, no one should know that better than him. He’s lost this team; he knows it, and he’s trying to quell the rumblings in the press and with fans by making delusional comments like these.
# GoBrowns19 says: November 14, 2009 11:04 AM
bearsrule…it’s Lewis’ team now? He is a shell of his former self and he’s retiring after the season. I’m not sticking up for Mangini, but it’s definitely not Lewis’ team…after this year at least. Half these bums will be on practice squads around the league next year and Lewis will be fishin. I don’t hate Lewis, I’m just saying he’s retiring, so who cares?
If he is speaking for the majority, that makes him the leader. That’s what leaders do. The fact that he’s retiring is irrelevant. You’re right in saying that “Half these bums will be on practice squads around the league.” Which is another reason for them NOT to follow Mangini.
Wah Wah Wah! I make millions to play football and coach makes me practice too hard! STFU and play ball, obviously the team needs even more practice given how horrible they’ve looked.
So is a divide between the coaching staff and players better than a divide simply between the players?
It doesn’t matter where the division is… I just hope that however they decide to practice they can break from the crying and complaining and put together a few plays and maybe score a touchdown or two…
And I am glad the players are rallying behind a player that is off our team as of next season, that will sure help us a lot.
To the poster without a post name, thanks for your response. I do agree that cle fans are the most passionate fans in all of sports, and mostly agree with your post. We can agree the majority of these players won’t be back next year. Players like wright and macdonald have been bad for rac and mangini. Other than 2 winning seasons, losing has been paramount in cle for a decade, and I believe the same thing will happen next year because of a lack of talent at key positions. This team is a project and will continue to be at least for another year due to the new crop of young players (mack, robiskie, massaquoi), and the upcoming 11 draft picks for next season. The least talented are being weeded out and that can’t be done overnight. Basically I’m looking for continuity, and it’s no secret mangini will be out next year once the new gm is hired and to me that’s unfair. I’m not convinced he’s the answer yet, but I’d like to see him given the chance to turn it around. Hopefully better days are ahead for this team. In the meantime, I hoping for a more improved team in the 2nd half.
Uhmm….it’s Cleveland…who cares!!! The team is so woeful, that the only fantasy value it provides is to start players on the OTHER team.
Mangini wouldn’t know the difference between a hard workout from going way overboard. He obviously has never been in top condition. Pulling back and working in plenty of rest is one of the most important breakthroughs in exercise science in the last fifty years. A team that is over trained is always going to be flat on Sunday. Playing football at Weslyan does not give him an incite into how to treat pro athletes. Many highschool teams could beat Weslyan.
Pecker Head Florio wrote:
“In our view, Mangini knows he’s walking a fine line here. Though he needs to defend the manner in which he runs practices, he also needs to avoid a full-blown mutiny. ”
NO. MANGINI NEEDS TO WIN GAMES.
Focus, Florio! Focus!
If this keeps up much longer Mangini and Lerner may put Barnum & Bailey out of business. As much as I cannot wait to see Ratgini gone; Lewis isn’t making things any better. If he truly doesnt want to play anymore, he ought to hang it up now and not wait till the end of the season. An old lady on a walker can hit the holes harder and faster than Lewis right now. But no Lewis just wants to collect every last dime he can before they ship him off to the glue factory.
@question8: agree with you on most points, but differ with you on Mangini. I’m all for consistency, but if it’s consistency in losing and general ineptness, that’s not what we want at all. I think once you identify a problem, you move to address it as soon as possible… they kept RAC around in the name of continuity… I was ripping my hair out when he and Savage got contract extensions to reward them for missing the playoffs in ’07, when it was clear to anyone that watched them that Romeo couldn’t prepare a team to play on Sundays, had no clue how to manage the clock, and had no control over his players–DA was hot for 7, 8 games that year and it was attributed falsely to RAC, IMO–and similarly, I think it’s already clear that Mangini isn’t the answer, and the sooner a change is made, the better.
I’m very, very apprehensive of him being the one to decide how we use those 11 draft picks after seeing how poorly he drafted this year. With that many picks, whoever makes the decision will have the chance to really set the foundation for this team. And drafting as this team has for the past 10 yrs, with that many picks, will set this team back another five years if they blow it again. And I see no reason to think Mangini would not blow it.
I understand your point about wanting to give him time to fix thins, but reasonable minds can disagree. Unfortunately, being as impressionable and fearful of making tough decisions as Lerner is, and with Mangini being the one with his ear now, I’m afraid we will have to endure another bad draft and more Mangini next season.
Go Hooter Go says:
November 14, 2009 10:37 AM
Florio,
You’ve once again, ignored what you didn’t want to post.
Jamal Lewis had already said publicly that the Media twisted his words and that is not what he meant.
He has already talked to Mangini and they have sorted that out, and they have just brushed it off as yet another spin by the Media.
Guess What? Your doing the same thing Florio. It’s pathetic, and what’s even worse, I feel sorry that you think that this kind of crap is needed to keep your site frequently visited.
==================================
I have to laugh every time I see a comment like this, talk about irony. Some douche, complaining that Florio basically picks and chooses what he wants to believe to be true, and then disregards everything else. Guess what douche, did you ever think that Florio is actually right, and the reports that you heard were wrong??? Did you ever think that the truth lies some where in the middle??? Who is to say, that the Browns werent trying to “put out the fires”, and publicly make a statement that the comments from Lewis were blown out of proprtion, blah blah blah…….. Neither one of you truly knows what is happening behind closed doors in Cleveland, but only one of you has a website, with “sources”……and it isnt you douche…….
Rickah99,
That is pretty funny and true. Cleveland has no players of fantasy (or reality for that matter) value. I expect Baltimore to completely blow them out of the water. If Quinn scores more than once, I will be shocked.