reserve with a broken right wrist.Mitchell got hurt in the second
quarter of Sunday's 45-42 loss at Oakland. He underwent surgery on
Monday
Womens Baker Mayfield Jersey , when coach Hue Jackson said he didn't think Mitchell's injury was season-ending. The team can designate two players to
return from injured reserve after six weeks.Mitchell broke his wrist while
breaking up a pass intended for Jordy Nelson. Following the play, Mitchell
grabbed his arm and immediately went to the sideline.To replace Mitchell, the
Browns signed Jeremiah McKinnon from their practice squad. McKinnon is in his
first NFL season out of Florida International. He was originally signed by
Dallas in 2016.Mitchell, who signed with Cleveland as unrestricted free agent
earlier this year, had 19 tackles and one interception in four starts.Jackson
said either E.J. Gaines or T.J. Carrie will replace Mitchell as a starter.Blame
Zane Gonzalez, but the young Browns just don’t know how to win Zane Gonzalez
“Charlie Brown’ed” a potential game-tying field goal that would have sent the
Cleveland Browns into overtime for the second straight week. Instead, they lost,
which everyone reading this already knows is what the Browns franchise has
seemed to do best for what seems like all of eternity.The Browns inventing
unique ways to lose football games is an art form, unlikely to be duplicated in
our time. For that, they are the Mona Lisa of failure.It’s wildly confusing,
then, how many seemed shocked as Drew Brees took a knee on Cleveland’s hopes of
winning its first game since December 2016. How did we get here? How could they
lose after playing so well, again?In Gonzalez’s defense, it was a 52-yard
attempt, and it was a high-pressure situation. But let’s not forget about his
two missed extra points that preceded it. But, but also, he earlier missed what
should have been a simple 44-yard field goal with 14:21 left in regulation.In a
dome.Gonzalez, a 23-year-old in his 17th NFL Game
http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/derrick-kindred-jersey , set records at Arizona State and was a unanimous All-American kicker while in
Tempe. And up until now, he had served the Browns well. He had missed only one
extra point—albeit in limited attempts, because how often have the Browns
actually scored touchdowns—and was 2-of-3 from 50-plus yards.After winning the
kicking competition against Ohio-native Ross Martin in training camp, it seemed
the Browns had found their kicker for the foreseeable future. Nothing is a
sure-thing, though, especially when dealing with young players playing in new
situations.Gonzalez uncharacteristically shanked three kicks that no NFL kicker
should ever miss, especially given the ideal conditions the Superdome affords.
Then his head coach trotted him out to kick a 52-yard field goal with eight
seconds left and the entire world expecting him to fail.Two extra points, and
two missed field goals, and then a three-point loss. The margin for error when
it comes to winning in the NFL is so brutally narrow. You feel for Gonzalez a
bit, it’s hard not to after realizing as bad as you feel for a few moments on
Sunday, he’ll probably feel even worse for significantly longer. You also
probably would have liked coach Hue Jackson to run another offensive play to get
closer for his young kicker, but there’s no guarantee some other Brownsian
tragedy doesn’t go down, and eight seconds leaves more than enough time for the
Browns to craft their newest Picasso.Look, it’s unacceptable Gonzalez was so bad
on September 16, 2018. He should be upset, deserves ridiculed, and maybe the
Browns will replace him. Whatever happens next, will happen. Gonzalez literally
has one job
http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/trevon-coley-jersey , and he was horrifically awful at it in this game.As good as it is to show him
some empathy, he gets doesn’t deserve any sympathy. This is the business he’s
in. This is the NFL, and there are consequences for failure for everyone
involved—well, everyone except for Cleveland’s 1-32-1 head coach.Whether
Gonzalez stays or goes, it doesn’t really matter. He’s a young player, so how he
rebounds from his worst performance will define the rest of his career, and
maybe that impacts the Browns, or maybe it doesn’t. But the bigger picture is
what’s important in times like these.The sad but honest reality is the Browns
just aren’t good enough to win, especially in close games, at least not yet, and
it’s mainly because they don’t know how to. A 23-year-old kicker was the
scapegoat in Week 2. But there are plenty of other issues, including youth and
inexperience, that makes them fall short when games are on the line.We can blame
special teams coach Amos Jones or Joel Bitonio for not protecting against the
Steelers’ overloaded scheme leading to the field-goal block that caused last
week’s tie. We can blame offensive coordinator Todd Haley for calling a vanilla
game plan and rarely challenging a Saints defense that gave up over 400 passing
yards and four scores just a week ago. We can blame a head coach that week after
week fails to use timeouts or manage a game clock effectively, and is guilty of
confusing blunder after confusing blunder. We can blame Tyrod Taylor for not
taking enough chances down the field.Forget the blame game, though. Although the
Browns were talented enough to win the game, they just don’t know how. It’s
because they haven’t done it, most of them are young and inexperienced, and the
pressure to win is heavily weighing on them. Talent wise
http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/jamie-collins-jersey , the “old Cleveland Browns” are long, long gone. We have seen it. Everyone knows
it.But being talented is only part of it.They’re never going to become a
consistent winning team until their young players are developed and cultivated
the right way. Until their coaches open up their playbooks and believe in their
players. Until they overcome these finger-pointing contest collapses in big
moments and actually win the close games they put themselves in position to
win.Saying the right things in press conferences and adding moral victories to
the trophy case aren’t going to change a thing. It’s time this group digs a
little deeper and plays to win games instead of to not lose them, or it’s time
this organization makes some changes. Whether that’s a coaching change, or
whether it’s a quarterback change, the Browns have tough decisions
looming.General manager John Dorsey is a no-nonsense kind of guy, so it’s crazy
to believe he’ll sit back and watch the team he built continue to fail in the
same—although new and exciting—ways of past Browns teams. After all, these guys
are “real football players,” right Mr. Dorsey?It’s true the new GM nuked the
Browns roster, and they have a new offensive coordinator, so the Browns offense
is still learning how to play together. And we know, or it at least looks like
they are more talented, so maybe nothing happens. Maybe the problems will fix
themselves in time. But an organization that perpetuates failure yet preaches
accountability eventually has to reflect inward and will figure out what changes
are necessary. Or it won't, and the beat goes on.While it’s not time to hit a
reset button, or even a panic button, you can bet changes are coming if the
Browns continue losing in the same pitiful ways. Long live the “same old
Browns,” the laughing stock of the NFL.At least for another week.Author’s note:
Correction, Zane Gonzalez was 2-of-3 on 50-yard field goals prior to Week
2.
