Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer for the Athletic, joined the K&C Masterpiece to preview this Sunday's matchup between the Cowboys and Cleveland. They discuss how disruptive Myles Garrett could be against rookie tackle Tyler Guyton, why Amari Cooper's route running is so respected across the league, and more!
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00:00We talk a lot about expectations, as I'm sure literally every fan base in the NFL does.
00:21Cleveland's coming off 11 and 6 season, lost the wild card to Houston.
00:26What are the expectations for Cleveland this season?
00:30Well, they're high, and in some areas they're super high, starting with that guy you just
00:36played, the local guy, Miles Garrett, right?
00:40But they're a little bit tempered, and there's a little bit of curiosity and skepticism because
00:45they just haven't seen it from the quarterback.
00:47You know, and this is year three of Deshaun Watson, and there are reasons that he has
00:51not excelled, both in the first two years and in what's been kind of an ugly summer
00:56and a really long build-up.
00:57So, you know, this is a good roster, and they proved that last year when they won 11 games
01:01despite starting five quarterbacks.
01:04And it's a roster that without Nick Chubb right now and with some offensive line questions
01:09probably isn't great, but I mean, to me, it's a high ceiling and maybe a really high ceiling
01:16because there really are good players all across the board, and if they do get it all
01:20to click with the quarterback, then to me they're as good as anybody.
01:25You're talking about Deshaun Watson, obviously every team in the NFL, every player is going
01:28to want to get off to a fast start, but because of the variety of reasons you talked about
01:32that he struggled, does it feel any more imperative for Deshaun Watson specifically to get out
01:38to a quick start this season?
01:40It does, but to be frank with you guys, they have lowered expectations and the bar for
01:45this guy so low that it's just kind of like, okay, well as long as the Browns are one-on-one
01:50after two games and as long as he's healthy and the other line gets healthy, they'll be
01:53fine.
01:54So, yeah, in the realm of it is imperative for everybody, sure, and I totally think the
02:00first 10 or 15 play scripts will be all about getting him confident and letting him take
02:06a hit that he sees coming, letting him complete some easy ones and maybe taking one shot before
02:11things settle in.
02:12But you add the shoulder injury to just the inconsistent mystery that he's been, and we
02:20don't know.
02:21Amari Cooper has been rock solid for this team.
02:24David Njoku finally had his breakout, and Nick Chubb has been who they can rely on with
02:29this offensive line, but a lot of those guys are missing.
02:32So I don't know, and to me, reaching the ceiling comes down to the quarterback eventually raising
02:37that bar again that's been lowered so much.