- Browns Coach Romeo Crennel has always struck me like a bear in appearance and demeanor.   With respect to the latter, he only growls when necessary and in private.  But that hibernation-like demeanor kind of leaves me wondering whether he can ultimately hang on to the confidence of his players.

Take today's press conference for instance:

"We are trying to get ready to play the game we have on Sunday night. It’s a big game for us because we lost the last one and we need a win and it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers who are right down the road. We haven’t done very well against those guys since we have been here so I think that adds more importance to it. It’s going to be critical that we play good. We have to play good to have a chance because they are a pretty good team as you saw last week and what they were able to get done. Our guys will accept the challenge and step up. We are going to work and we are going to fight and we will see what happens. "

The words don't exactly inspire.  Then again, it's the media so he doesn't have to inspire us.

But even the casual observer of the Browns-Steelers rivalry have to raise an eyebrow when it comes to this statement Crennel made about the longstanding feud:

“I can’t speak for before I was here, but since I have been here they have been able to beat us and basically play better. Even when it looked like we had a chance we haven’t been able to finish. We are going to have to see if we can get off to a good start and then see if we can finish a game."

Again, not inspiring.  However, I will give Crennel credit for cutting to the chase on one issue: team defense.  Maybe the so-so way in which he delivers his message is coming from a coach who knows that didn't get everything worked out in the pre-season.  While the offense can claim some legitimate near misses on several plays. The defense was never close with the Dallas Cowboys being able to run and pass at will.  Realistically, the Cowboys should have scored more than 40 points and Crennel knows it.

“I don’t think you can say anybody played well. Shaun (Rogers) was able to get some push in the pocket in the second half a little bit, but when you give up almost 500 yards of offense there’s not much that can look good.”

It looks as if running back Jamal Lewis is going to give it a go against the Dallas Cowboys this afternoon.

Here's a rundown of the team's inactives:

Ken Dorsey (emergency QB)

Josh Cribbs

Brodney Pool

Kris Griffin

Rex Hadnot

Ryan Tucker

Martin Rucker

Missing Tucker and Hadnot is especially troublesome because it affects the right side of the line, which is likely where the the Cowboys would attack the Browns passing game.  With those two out, McKinney will have to bring his A-game and will need as much help as the Browns can spare, including leaving a back in for pass protection.

Here you go Browns fans.  A couple of minor surprises in the receivers they cut:

Waived

TE Brad Cieslak

DB A.J. Davis

WR Efrem Hill

TE Kolomona Kapanui

DB Travis Key

OL James Lee

WR Lance Leggett

LB David McMillan

DB Brandon Mitchell

LB Chase Ortiz

OL Jonathan Palmer

DB Jereme Perry

DL Melila Purcell

K Jason Reda

WR Steve Sanders

WR Travis Wilson

Terminated-Vested Veteran

LB Shantee Orr

Waived-Injured

OL Derrick Morse

OL Marvin Philip

DL Chase Pittman

RB Travis Thomas

You guys watched it; it wasn't pretty. I won't continue the pain here.

Romeo Crennel proved true to his word. While the third preseason game is the one where first teamers see the most action, Crennel said in a recent practice that he wouldn't be telling them when they were coming out of the game - primarily because he thought it mad them in a hurry to get in and get out.

Quinn, starting for Anderson, opened the third quarter and began to march the team down the field until stalling no a fourth-and-two play that resulted in an incompletion to running back Jerome Harrison that almost saw him throwing from his backside.

Quinn's third possession doesn't bode any better.  Again three and out with ineffective blocks courtesy of the right side of the line leads to Quinn getting splattered to the turf on his tookes.

The Browns just succeeded in making Dan Orlvosky look Favre-esque twice on the Lions first possession of the second quarter.  And Kevin Smith brought back memories of Barry Sanders with a 35-yard touchdown run where no one really laid a finger on him.

Hmmm…Quinn begins to get into a rhythm, dinking and dunking the ball around when he finally throws an intermediate pass, it's dropped by Travis Wilson.  Quinn and company finally break the scoring drought to go make the score 13-3.  They blew a golden opportunity to score a TD by imploding near the goal line.

On the next drive he once again looked to get something going, but incompletions and near picks undo it.  Phil Dawson salvages it with a 53-yard field goal.  Overall Quinn is up and down on the drive, but at the same time he can't be completely blamed

Another hot and sultry day - reminiscent of summer days in the great state of Alabama - out at Berea today.

Just when Coach Romeo Crennel offers some praise for Brady Quinn, the Cleveland Browns second string quarterback goes out and has - shall we say - an uneven day. Looking at Quinn in the team's lone practice today it was obvious that the passer wasn't accurate on deep routes today, often overthrowing the ball. 

Some of that can be attributed to blanket-like coverage of the Browns DBs on some occasions, but Quinn, for whatever reason, was off.  To his credit, however, he spent a significant amount of time after practice throwing balls to a member of the Browns staff.  Might he be pushing?  Possibly.

But Quinn needs to learn something right now:  for the time being, this isn't his team.  No matter how much he and his legions of fans want it, it's not happening this year unless starter Derek Anderson starts to look like Spurgeon Wynn.

Speaking of Mr. Anderson….With wide receiver Donte Stallworth able to go full speed after a slight hamstring issue, he and Anderson seem to be developing the all-important sense of timing and chemistry.  Anderson hit Stallworth on a nice bomb that the receiver laid out for drawing some serious applause from fans in attendance.  Yes, it was that impressive.

That would be one of the few times that Browns defensive backs would get burned all day, however. For the most part they attacked the ball, slapping passes away and creating turnovers.  Corner brothers Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald, the season's likely starters, draped themselves on receivers.  McDonald had one sweet interception and dropped another.  Wright proved consistent throughout.

Right now, McDonald's play gives Browns' management reason to hope that they won't end up with egg on their face for trading cornerback Leigh Bodden during the offseason.  Of course, looking good in practice and in playing situations are two different situations.