Mid-week thoughts

Now that the Browns have experienced what counts as a losing spell, doubts are being raised by none other than some of the players with regard to the coaching, most notably the ability to make adjustments.

Defensive end Myles Garrett and safety John Johnson III expressed those concerns following Sunday's 45-7 embarrassment against the New England Patriots. They were made post-game when emotions and frustrations usually run high, lips become loose and honesty prevails.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said he spoke with Garrett about his remarks and emphasized the result of that conversation would be kept in house, as it should have been. It's safe to assume, though, it was more of a one-way talk.

It took 10 games, but Garrett's and Johnson's reaction to the New England loss was probably starting to simmer over a period of time that had seen the Browns lose four of six games, at least one of which was very winnable, and then mounted to the point of bubbling over.

Players criticizing the coaching is generally a no-no. It's basically challenging authority, although those who do so don't see it that way. It's their way of telling the man in charge -- in this case Stefanski -- that something needs to be done to, as they put it, stop the bleeding.

It will take more than a tourniquet to stanch the blood flow, though, because in sports, winning generally breeds winning and losing generally breeds losing. That's why Stefanski preaches the hackneyed one-game-at-a-time mantra, which worked nicely in last season's 11-5 journey, which featured no back-to-back losses.

Since losing consecutive games for the first time this season in weeks five and six, it's been W, L, W, L.  Too few Ws, too many Ls. A 5-5 record at this stage for the season, especially against the weak part of the schedule, was not expected.

Consistency seems to have taken a vacation and Stefanski seemingly is struggling to find it again. Just when it was assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, the Browns had finally figured it out with the trouncing in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, the Patriots rudely and decisively jolted them back to reality.

Injuries and COVID-19 have interfered along the way. But Stefanski correctly does not employ that as an excuse. The other 31 National Football League teams have traveled the same road this season. Complaining is a waste of time.

Stefanski now faces the biggest challenge of his head coaching career. Maintaining the attention and confidence of the 53-man roster, many of whom were there last season and believed in the rookie head coach, is vitally important. Garrett's and Johnson's words nicked Stefanski's coaching veneer.

He is the head coach. He gets all the credit, deserved or not, when the Browns win. He gets all the blame, deserved or not, when they lose. What the club accomplishes for 60 minutes a game in 17 games from September to January is a direct reflection of the head coach.

Everything runs through him. And right now, the very talented (at least on paper) Browns have overwhelmed five opponents and underwhelmed five others. At the risk of mixing a metaphor, it has  somewhat tarnished the bloom on Stefanski's coaching rose.

For the first time in his brief tenure in Cleveland, critics are chirping. Perhaps it's because his early success with the Browns spoiled them and they aren't used to seeing this club scuffle. The results have been disappointing with no apparent solutions in sight.

Are the Browns really this bad? Maybe they aren't and are underachieving. Then again, maybe last season was a one-year aberration and they're back to permanent residence of the AFC North basement.  Fans spoiled from last season's success and who jumped back on the bandwagon want to know and are confused. 

What was it Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells said all those years ago when asked about results? He said they speak for themselves. "You are what your record says you are." And right now, it says the Browns are merely average with the capability of being better.

We're going to find out in the next seven games just what kind of head coach Kevin Stefanski is with one absolute. No matter how the Browns finish, he will be back next season and the season after that and the season after that, ending the coaching carousel that has bedeviled this franchise for way too long.

Eventually, he's going to get this right, using this season as a learning experience, and become the right head coach this erstwhile woebegone franchise has sought for more than a generation.