Mid-week thoughts

Every now and then Kevin Stefanski, one of the best young offensive minds in the National Football League, reaches down into his bag of tricks and hauls out a play reminiscent of a highly malodorous skunk.

The Browns' head coach and playcaller tends to outsmart himself at the most inappropriate times on occasion and tries to get cute, sometimes too cute. Take, for example, one of those times in the big victory last Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Cleveland offense was cruising with a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter with momentum when the defense created  a turnover in Bengals territory, safety John Johnson separating the football from Cincinnati receiver Ja'Marr Chase. The Browns began the drive at the Cincy 30.

The offense, by then playing with supreme confidence, reached the 13 in three plays, the seven in four plays and the four in five plays. Third and one at the four. Time for Nick Chubb, who would run for 134 yards on the afternoon, to finish the job, a 28-7 lead just a few yards away.

And that's when Stefanski, in all his brilliance, believed he had a better idea. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had to be shocked when he heard the call for a handoff to Jarvis Landry, who would then pitch the ball back to Chubb, who drifted left at the snap, and catch the Bengals defense napping.

Instead, they smelled it. Landry's pitch back to Chubb was low and bounced about five yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Browns were fortunate Chubb was able to recover at the 10. The parting gift was a 28-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal that made it 24-7 when it could have been 28-7 with smarter playcalling.

It was definitely one of those moments when Stefanski had the opportunity to chastise himself and suggest it was a play he would have wanted back. He's been around long enough to know the closer you get to an opponent's goal line, zero thinking about gadget plays. Too many people handle the football. It was a high-risk, low-percentage play that is more likely to backfire than work.

One more Stefanski niggle. I'm not sure what the reason for his apparent fetish for fourth-down gambles is. If it's related to analytics, maybe revisiting that philosophy is in order.  He all season long has adamantly and stubbornly gone for it on fourth down when in enemy territory.

Maybe it's his way of showing his men how much confidence he has in them converting. Well, he hasn't been rewarded very much. He has gambled 18 times -- two a game on the average -- and converted just seven, a dismal 39%. 

Instead of playing for field position and pinning an opponent close to the goal line with a punt or calling on McLaughlin, who already has a 57-yarder this season, for a field goal, he is leaving too many points on the field.

Okay, the Browns won the game. That's not the point. There will be similar opportunities down the line. The hope is Stefanski remembers this faux pas and avoids repeating it.

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It is time for Stefanski and his offensive staff to realize Donovan Peoples-Jones is a lot more than a good blocker in the ground game. The sixth-round draft choice last year has turned into a pretty good -- and very reliable -- pass receiver.

DPJ, who never lived up to his advanced billing at the University of Michigan, just might be one of those athletes who keeps getting better with every step up during his career. There was a reason he lasted until the sixth round.

He quietly has worked his way up the depth chart at wide receiver to the point, now that Odell Beckham Jr. is plying his trade with the Los Angeles Rams, where he is a solid WR2 behind Landry and most likely will see his snap count rise.

In limited opportunities to this point, Peoples-Jones in 19 career games with the Browns has been targeted only 38 times with 29 receptions (22 for first downs) for 618 yards and five touchdowns. This season in seven games, he has caught 15 of 18 targets for 318 yards, 12 first downs and three TDs. Overall, he has caught 76.3% of his targets.

Those numbers, when extrapolated, would make him the most productive wide receiver on the team. Assuming the coaches are paying attention, there is an excellent chance Browns Nation will see DPJ play a much bigger role the rest of the season.

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Nice to see good players rewarded as the Browns execute a 1-2 punch on consecutive days, wrapping up their two guards on the offensive line for the next few years with well-earned contract extensions that make them two of the three highest guards in the NFL.

Wyatt Teller signed a four-year extension worth slightly more than $14 million a season and Joel Bitonio was given a three-year extension worth a league-best $16 million per. Bitonio is the longest-tenured of the Browns at eight seasons. 

Teller, a benchwarmer for the first half of last season, cracked the starting lineup midway through the season and has played at an All-Pro level since. He made the key block in Chubb's 70-yard gallop against the Bengals Sunday, pancaking Cincy safety Jessie Bates III. 

The man responsible for Teller being a Cleveland Brown? Former General Manager John Dorsey, who sent a couple of low-round draft picks to the Buffalo Bills during training camp in 2019. Dorsey is now q a senior personnel executive with the Detroit Lions.

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With the Browns still struggling to get to reasonably good health with COVID-19 and injuries stunting the effort, the pressure mounts on Stefanski to keep his club on an even keel from an emotional standpoint. He already passed the first test with all the OBJ nonsense last week.

Teller believes his coach has the right mind-set to handle such situations. "It's 'Hey, how are we going to handle this situation, and handle it in stride,' " he said. "I think that's how coach Stefanski is and I'm thankful for that."

It's going to be tricky again this weekend with running backs Demetric Felton, John Kelley and Chubb in COVID-19 protocol. There is an outside chance Chubb plays Sunday if he is asymptomatic and tests negative twice in a 24-hour period by Saturday at 4 p.m. If not, D'Ernest Johnson gets the nod and the game plan possibly changes.

For those who forgot, Johnson ran for 146 yards and a touchdown when Chubb and Kareem Hunt, still on injured reserve, were not available for the Denver Broncos game a few weeks ago. Caution: Don't look for a repeat. The Broncos 'defense wishes it could be like the Patriots'.

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Finally . . . Patriots coach Bill Belichick is 7-2 against the Browns and unbeaten in five games at home. A win will boost his victory total with New England to 250. . . . Safety John Johnson III and slot corner Troy Hill are beginning to look more and more like the playmakers who helped the Los Angeles Rams become one of the NFL's best defensive teams last season. The Browns' new aggressive defense is refreshing. . . . If Beckham was hoping to be the No. 1 receiver with his new club, he chose unwisely by signing with the Rams, who have Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods locked in at 1-2.