Josh Gordon wasn’t supposed to start, but he did

Posted by Mike Florio on September 9, 2018, 6:41 PM EDT
AP

Hopefully, Hard Knocks has simply passed the baton to All or Nothing. Otherwise there will be no way to fully appreciate the ongoing tension between coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

That tension surfaced briefly today, from Jackson’s perspective, regarding the fact that receiver Josh Gordon wasn’t supposed to start on Sunday. But he did.

“The personnel group got him out there,” Jackson told reporters after the 21-21 tie. “The personnel group got him out there in the first play. I saw it just like you did. Not what I wanted, but we will get through that, too.”

This implies that Haley either accidentally or deliberately disregarded Jackson’s wishes. And that Jackson isn’t happy with it.

He should be happy with this: He’s 0-0-1. Which looks pretty good in the first game after 0-16.

Permalink 22 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

22 responses to “Josh Gordon wasn’t supposed to start, but he did”

  2. Baker Mayfield is better than Tyrod Taylor and I think the Browns would had won if he were the starter. Landry, Gordon and Njoku with the talent on defense, this was the Browns game to win. Hue Jackson does not coach to win and if you look objectively at the Browns roster, they are not a bad team whatsoever. Mayfield should start.

  5. Doesn’t Hue have a headset? Does he not understand what the play call is? Does he not know what the plan is for the freakin’ first play of the game?

    If Hue wasn’t so busy trying to be buddies with his players he might have a clue as to what is happening.

  6. Todd Haley’s play calling is also why that was a tie and not a win. Who calls a passing play on 3rd and 1 when you need a field goal to win and are less than 15 yards from field goal range?

  7. josh gordon looked slow to me.

    I know… I know… he’s been out of the game for a long time… and…
    … I, too, have been force-fed the “great natural talent josh gordon” narrative…
    … but…. I see a sluggish average receiver.

    I expected a guy who could beat corners by STEPS (not a step – ocassionally).

  8. Hue Jackson is a Trumpian genius! Not ONLY did he, in THE VERY FIRST GAME. **eliminate** the possibility of going 0 and 16 this year, but he PRESERVED HIS WINLESS STREAK!

    GREAT JOB, HUE!!!!!

  9. josh gordon looked slow to me.

    I know… I know… he’s been out of the game for a long time… and…
    … I, too, have been force-fed the “great natural talent josh gordon” narrative…
    … but…. I see a sluggish average receiver.

    I expected a guy who could beat corners by STEPS (not a step – ocassionally).

    ———————————

    This is what happens when your QB under-throws everything

  11. “This is what happens when your QB under-throws everything”
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    So… his slowness is Tyrod Taylor’s fault?!?

    I guess those 7 sacks and all those plays where he’s running
    for his life is Taylor’s fault, too.

  12. “Hope you guys saw Tyrod for what he is. That 15/40, for less than 200 yards is kinda typical from him.”

    C’mon man. They were playing in a monsoon from first whistle to last. Not fair to judge him on those stats due to the conditions…

  16. “This is what happens when your QB under-throws everything”
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

    So… his slowness is Tyrod Taylor’s fault?!?

    I guess those 7 sacks and all those plays where he’s running
    for his life is Taylor’s fault, too.

    —————————————————————

    Of course it was…….

    But seriously as a Browns fan I saw many passes under-thrown. Weather, being sacked, also a WR making sure he has his footing and staying up. Our offensive line is offensive. To make sure that he is able to make the catch Gordon has to slow down to catch the ball. Please though, continue ranting about making one statement and me saying well Tyrod was under-throwing the ball. WE were not discussing why he was under-throwing but he was under-throwing…one more time…He UNDER-THREW the ball due to factors.

  17. Browns reasons for optimism:

    1) Denzel Ward is the real deal; rookie in his first pro game, draws Antonio Brown, comes out with 2 interceptions;
    2) Myles Garrett is in the running already for Defensive Player of the Year — he single-handedly pulled us back into the game;
    3) Nobody got hurt;
    4) There’s a good chance the O-Line could still see some drastic improvement, because they haven’t had a chance to gel yet. They were still being shuffled around until late last week. Once they get some time under their belt as a unit they should be better;
    5) They didn’t LOSE at the end; the Browns of years past never would’ve hung in until the end like that; there would have been a blown assignment in the secondary and they would’ve have lost in OT — this Defense actually held it together til the end.
    6) We still haven’t seen the full offensive show, Landry+Gordon+Calloway, due to the rain — curious to see this offense in normal conditions.
    7) The Defense is producing turnovers at an incredible rate — see also the 3rd preseason game against the Eagles. This D has a chance to be elite in the league.

    Reasons for pessimism:
    1) The penalties;
    2) The drops (Njoku, Landry had one, Duke Johnson had one); some of this is the rain though;
    3) Front 7 got pushed around too much in the first half; specifically the interior D-linemen; our run D was too soft at times;
    4) Too many tackles;

    ============

    I like Tyrod Taylor, and I wanna see him in normal weather conditions. But the under-thrown ball to Gordon at the end of the 4Q which led to an interception was a killer. He puts that ball a little farther in front of Gordon, we win the game.

  18. Brownsweregoodinthe80s says:
    September 9, 2018 at 7:58 pm
    “Hope you guys saw Tyrod for what he is. That 15/40, for less than 200 yards is kinda typical from him.”

    C’mon man. They were playing in a monsoon from first whistle to last. Not fair to judge him on those stats due to the conditions…

    Um….look at ANY of his box scores from the last 3 years. That’s a typical Tyrod game

  19. Tyrod was running for his life all game in the pouring rain. Anyone making any judgments from his performance this week is crazy. Yes he made a few underthrows, but I for one am so glad it wasn’t Baker running for his life back there.

    Next week, in the superdome, against a fired up D that just let Fitzpatrick score 40+ on them will be telling for this offense.

  21. Hue/Haley feud was inevitable. Thanks, Jimmy. Leave it to Haslam, the baffoon of baffoons among NFL owners to allow this crap storm. He keeps Hue because “cough” he believes in him, not because “cough” he didn’t want to pay him and another HC this season. Of course, Hue “cough” hires Haley not Dorsey and things would be peachy. Of course, Haley didn’t take the job because he thought “cough” he could be head coach by mid-season.

    Dysfunction continues to reign supreme in C-town. As a Browns fan, this game was as much a loss as every other in the past few years. Undisciplined. Knee-jerk coaching reactions. Throwing unprepared rookies to the wolves. Sulking Gordon. Skittish QB play. Underwhelming draft picks save Ward, but Corbett/Chubb, 33rd and 35th picks, where are you? Maybe should have traded one of those picks to move up for Barkley after all… Thanks “buddy-boy” for bringing the Green Bay personnel scouting pedigree…

    Of course, this is all week 1 over-reaction, but we’ve seen this movie before…

    “Playoffs, playoffs? I just hope we can win a game…”

  22. “Hope you guys saw Tyrod for what he is. That 15/40, for less than 200 yards is kinda typical from him.”

    C’mon man. They were playing in a monsoon from first whistle to last. Not fair to judge him on those stats due to the conditions…

    Um….look at ANY of his box scores from the last 3 years. That’s a typical Tyrod game

    ===================

    That may be the case but he’s got better weapons this year (arguably, with Gordon, Landry, Duke Johnson and maybe Calloway if he blows up) than in years past.

    The rain was HEAVY in that game. Let’s wait and see how they look this week in New Orleans.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.