The Cleveland Browns are emerging from their bye week, staring down the barrel of their final eight games with a 2-7 record. While head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters Monday that they used the time off to try and address things that need to change to help finish the string on a more positive note, one of those changes will not come under center. Stefanski confirmed to reporters that Jameis Winston will remain the team’s starting quarterback going forward.
Winston had taken over as Cleveland’s starter in Week 8 after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury against the Bengals in Week 7. The Browns have gone 1-1 in those contests, with Winston initially leading the team to an upset victory over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8. However, the former No. 1 overall pick came back down to earth just before the bye in a 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9, where he threw three interceptions.
That turnover-filled showing, at the very least, opened the door to ask Stefasnki the question of whether or not the self-scouting over the bye led the team to consider switching to backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The Browns also have veteran quarterback Bailey Zappe on the active roster.
“I think with all of our players, we’re going to always look at what we’re doing and see what type of decisions we want to make, but we feel really good about all of those guys in there,” Stefasnki said when asked if there was any thought of making the switch.
The Browns are averaging 16.4 points per game, which ranks 29th in the NFL, while their 4.2 yards per play average ranks dead last. As the offensive struggles gain most of the attention, Stefanski did say that he has laid out goals for all sides of the ball coming out of the bye.
“There’s so much that you look at from an offense, defense, special teams lens,” he said of self-evaluating during the bye. “You look at it from a personnel lens, a schematic lens. There’s a lot to take away, so it’s our job to figure out how to digest all of that and then have some action items if you will.
“I shared with the team things that I feel like should be goals of ours going into the last eight games from an offensive, defensive, and special teams perspective. Not to get into specifics, but there are things that we feel like we can improve upon, and that’s really the goal of certainly the next eight games.”
The Browns will visit the New Orleans Saints in Week 11.