3 good and 3 bad things from the Cleveland Browns last preseason game

The Bad

Ethan Pocic’s play

Yikes. I thought Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku were liabilities blocking (they are), but if they can catch the ball then fine, they can suck at blocking. Ethan Pocic can’t afford to be bad at run blocking, however, and he is. He’s very bad. The number of times Pocic got pushed deep into the backfield was bountiful. He couldn’t seal an edge on a pulling play and looked largely lost at the position.

The receiver’s

Anthony Schwartz had a nice career with the Cleveland Browns but it’s over. No one’s doubting that. The man had three drops this game alone. Some will also blame him for an interception that Jacoby Brissett threw, but that was more the defense forcing a turnover, as opposed to the Browns making a mistake. It was a timing route and a Bears defender clipped Schwartz off the line. It happens. He’s still a terrible player. Brissett largely stayed away from the receivers too, which isn’t exactly a strong sign that he has faith in them.

Jacoby Brissett

Man, Jacoby Brissett is going to be everyone’s least favorite player and that just shouldn’t be the case. He’s not a good starter, but he’s a fine backup. He’s going to be asked to do things that he just can’t do. He’s perpetually just shy of a big play, and that’s how he’s always going to be. He’s a game manager in the purest sense of the word. If the team has a lead, he’ll be fine, but if he has to lead a comeback, the team will struggle and we saw that across nearly two full quarters. Passes to guys just short of first downs, awkward attempts deep, and of course the interception. That’s not all on him, it happens but the need to run timing routes is an issue. I don’t put much stock in the batted passes, though. The tallest quarterbacks get batted down all the time.