The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page C006

C6 Monday, October 17, 2011 C6 Akron Beacon Journal Monday, October 17, 2011 www.Ohio.com BROWNS Streak continues for center Mack Notebook OAKLAND, Pro Bowl center Alex Mack is either the fastest healer or the toughest man on the roster. After undergoing an appendectomy Oct. 3, Mack was in the starting lineup for 24-17 loss to the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. With his surgery coming during the bye week, Mack has not missed a snap since he was drafted 21st overall in 2009. He practiced only on Friday.

But the Browns were without cornerback Joe Haden, who sprained his left knee Oct. 2 against the Tennessee Titans. Dimitri Patterson, the nickel back, took spot in the lineup. In nickel situations, Patterson moved to the slot, and rookie Buster Skrine lined up on the outside opposite Sheldon Brown. Patterson tied his career high with seven tackles.

Haden played catch on the field during pregame warm- ups, but he spent the most of his time sitting on the bench with assistant coaches Gary Brown and Jerome Henderson. It was the first game missed by Haden since he was selected seventh overall in 2010. The Browns lost two more starters when running back Peyton Hillis suffered a left hamstring injury in the first half and linebacker Scott Fujita departed in the second half with a concussion. He was replaced by Kaluka Maiava. While status was basically a game-time decision, Mack said he believed he was going to be ready Saturday when he went through the walk-through and found his pain was important to the team and to me to get out there and Mack said.

prefer to be out there in practice because you get to work on conditioning and technique. Getting thrown out there a little rusty, I think I did OK. I know I can play Asked about the pain he felt during the game, Mack said, was not the ideal situation for me. want to have anyone else who had any kind of surgery here rush too quick. not like setting a bar here, who can come back fastest.

Both me and the doctors felt it was where I felt good enough to play and I felt I could do a good enough Quarterback Colt McCoy and Browns coach Pat Shurmur lauded effort. thankful he was in there. His effort to come back was Shurmur said. think Alex did a real fine McCoy said. should applaud him.

a great effort to come in and be ready to As for Haden, he said he had known for be sidelined. just been getting better every day, but we really have a time frame on it Haden said. He said he was frustrated to miss his first game. of course. You always want to be out there with your boys helping them Haden said.

just another step. Gotta make sure everybody steps up, raises their level of play and just hopefully be back out there Donovan stays home Jim Donovan missed his first game since he became radio voice of the Browns in 1999, feeling ill before the team departed for California on Friday. Donovan underwent a bone marrow transplant in June as part of his treatment for leukemia. WTAM sports director Mike Snyder filled in for Donovan. Tribute to Davis At halftime, the Raiders paid tribute to owner Al Davis, who died Oct.

8. Hall of famer John Madden lit a torch on the concourse in memory that was visible from the field. Employees wore T-shirts with AL written in silver inside the Raider shield and video clips of Davis were played on the scoreboard. Among the former players who attended the first home game since death were George Atkinson, Greg Biekert, Morris Bradshaw, Cliff Branch, Willie Brown, Dave Casper, Raymond Chester, Clem Daniels, Anthony Dorsett, Mervyn Fernandez, Rich Gannon (part of the CBS broadcast team), Ted Hendricks, Ricky Hunley, Napoleon Kaufman, Rod Martin, Jim Otto, Jim Plunkett, Jerry Robinson, Bill Romanowski, Greg Townsend, Howie Williams, Steve Wisniewski and Rod Woodson, along with former coach Tom Flores. Inactives Inactive for the Browns were receiver Carlton Mitchell, quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, defensive back Eric Hagg, tight end Jordan Cameron and offensive linemen John Greco and Oniel Cousins.

The Raiders were without three starters, fullback Marcel Reece (ankle), defensive end Matt Shaughnessy (shoulder) and cornerback Chris Johnson (hamstring). They were replaced by Manase Tonga, Jarvis Moss and DeMarcus Van Dyke, respectively. Also missing was nickel back Chimdi Chekwa (hamstring) of Ohio State. The Raiders did not activate quarterback Terrelle Pryor of Ohio State. Oakland had a one-game roster exemption for Pryor as he returned from a five-game NFL suspension.

The collarbone injury suffered by starter Jason Campbell in the second quarter could make Pryor active for next home game against Kansas City. Brownies Rookie Greg Little tied a career-high with six catches for a career-best 72 yards. Safety Mike Adams recovered a fumble and has been part of a turnover in three consecutive games. The 50 percent conversion rate (8-of- 16) on third down tied a season high. wife, Jennifer, sat on the bench during pregame warm-ups talking to special teams assistant Shawn Mennenga, special teams coach Chris Tabor and defensive coordinator Dick Jauron.

Browns linebacker Titus Brown played on special teams in his regular-season debut after suffering a high ankle sprain in an Aug. 25 preseason game. Browns game captains were Chris Gocong, Mohamed Massaquoi and Ray Ventrone. Marla Ridenour can be reached at thebeaconjournal.com. Despite appendectomy during bye, Pro Bowler missed a snap By Marla Ridenour Beacon Journal sports columnist controversy.

He genuinely seemed to be trying to think of how to ignite his team and this is the best way he knows. want to be a he said. feel like so far away because on offense. But just on offense. out there.

I could be on the sideline and be the same The circumstances of the game heightened frustration. The Raiders scored two touchdowns on dynamic special teams plays like Cribbs used to make. Jacoby Ford returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown, and tight end Kevin Boss caught a 35-yard pass from Shane Lechler on a fake field goal. The Browns had just scored to tie the game 7-7 and within seconds, Ford seized the momentum back. The Raiders went ahead 24-7 before the Browns began their comeback.

Cribbs saw how Ford energized O.co Coliseum and longed to deliver that kind of spark. Cribbs has had 10 returns for touchdowns, but he scored since he brought back two kickoffs for touchdowns at Kansas City on Dec. 20, 2009. Cribbs also sounded like he wondered whether Ford would have gone all the way if he had been out there making tackles on the coverage units. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown given up by the Browns since Leodis McKelvin went 98 yards on Nov.

17, 2008. emotions were also fueled by the erratic offense. His 23-yard reception early in the second quarter was their longest play. Cribbs finished with two catches for 30 yards, giving him 14 receptions for 183 yards and a touchdown in five games. Rookie Greg Little is a part of this, too.

Cribbs sees Little coming into his own, catching a team-high six passes for a career-best 72 yards against the Raiders. Cribbs believes the Browns have receivers and tight ends who can make plays. has been going good. stepped up a Cribbs said. have capable receivers.

My two catches significant enough. I feel like if I was out there on teams, I could help rally those guys, stop them more or Cribbs conceded he might not feel this way if he was making more of an impact. think the he said. insignificant. I want to help my team win.

My role on offense, when I weigh it to special teams, very insignificant on offense. You get the ball to your athletes. And I feel like I can really help the team on special teams. I just feel like I can help rally the guys to make it even more powerful coverage units. Those guys are great, but young.

I can add some experience and help them create more Some could say that the Browns need any more disgruntled players speaking out. Running back Peyton Hillis questioned coach Pat play-calling and tight end Evan Moore was frustrated about his lack of playing time after a 31-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 2. Hillis is seeking a contract extension, so his every move is being scrutinized. Shurmur did not have an opportunity to address comments on Sunday.

Shurmur must not react to them like Cribbs was second- guessing, but rather consider that his player was thinking aloud about the best way he can help his team win. Some might hear of willingness to give up his role on offense and think asking for a demotion. But not the way Cribbs sees it. The undrafted rookie from Kent State, a former Golden Flashes quarterback, earned a job in the NFL by being on every special teams unit and throwing his body around. He went to two Pro Bowls.

He was named as the kick returner on the all- decade team of the 2000s. need to re-focus myself on how I got into the Cribbs said. has to look at themselves in the mirror. When I look at myself, I see special teamer. think more needed on special teams than anything else.

Where an asset on this team is special Perhaps if his teammates see willingness to take a step back and return to his pre-glory days, embrace some of their own less-than- glamorous duties. With the Browns 2-3 and the first half of their schedule looking tougher than expected, a suggestion Shumur afford to ignore. Marla Ridenour can be reached at thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at http://marla.ohio.com/. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MarlaRidenour.

Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at www. facebook.com/sports.abj. Ridenour Continued from Page C1 BEN Press Josh Cribbs (left) sits on the bench with the Brian Robiskie in the fourth quarter Sunday in Oakland. Cribbs says like to return to special teams to make an impact. plenty of corrections to make.

Even though they rallied late, their overall performance was ugly. The Browns trimmed their deficit to 24-10 when kicker Phil Dawson made a 47-yard field goal with 12:24 left in the fourth quarter. They cut the lead to 24-17 with 1:06 remaining when McCoy connected with wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi for a 12- yard touchdown pass. Browns rookie James Dockery recovered the ensuing onside kick, but McCoy and Co. fell short in the end.

McCoy threw three consecutive incomplete passes as the final drive stalled. Massaquoi had a chance to catch the final pass, but secure the ball as a defender knocked into him. were a lot of incom- pletions in said McCoy, who completed 21-of-45 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions but a few close calls. showed us a lot of different looks. We made a couple bad throws, dropped a couple balls and those things will hurt you.

When you do that and we got a few penalties in the first half that kind of knocked us back hard for us as a young group to really kind of fight through that. If there is a positive, we did fight through all those things and gave ourselves a chance at the end. I just really wish we could have got it The Raiders led 14-7 at halftime and extended their lead to 17-7 with 3:06 left in the third quarter when kicker Sebastian Janikowski capped a seven-play, 35-yard drive with a 48-yard field goal. During the next series, McCoy dropped the ball as he was turning to hand it off, and Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly recovered the fumble. Boss was wide open four plays later when he caught the pass from Lechler.

Boss ran about 32 yards and stumbled into the end zone after weak- side linebacker Chris Gocong caught him and tripped near the goal line. sold out to block field Shurmur said. you sell out to block it, trying to keep the game in a position where you can win it with a score or two, that can Raiders running back Darren McFadden had 20 carries for 91 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run that gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead with 5:43 left in the first quarter. McCoy later connected with tight end Alex Smith for a 1-yard touchdown pass, helping the Browns tie the score 7-7 with 12:07 left in the second quarter. But the Browns failed to hold onto the momentum for more than a few moments because Ford returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.

Dawson dived as he tried to push Ford out of bounds near midfield, but Ford successfully tiptoed along the sideline. The touchdown stood after officials reviewed the play. a reason that returning kicks and Dawson said. kind of gave me a little head move, so I had to protect the middle and then he went to sideline and probably what ultimately got me. pretty much a mismatch at that Nate Ulrich can be reached at thebeaconjournal.com.

Read the Browns blog at http://browns.ohio.com. Browns Continued from Page C1 BEN Press Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis (40) is tackled by several Oakland Raiders players in the second quarter Sunday in Oakland, Calif. Hillis sat out most of the second half with a pulled left hamstring. PAUL Press Cleveland Browns tight end Alex Smith (81) makes a 1-yard reception for a touchdown as Oakland Raiders safety Jerome Boyd (30) tries to take him down in the second quarter..