Brownie Bites: Notable Quotes from Your Cleveland Browns (5/30/10)

In an extended effort to not re-hash other information that has already been written somewhere else on the Internet, I have once again scoured various sources in order to provide you with the best quotes from Browns players, personnel and other sports writers for your entertainment.

You may have already read some or all of these, and you may have missed several while just skimming through another article, but I digress and here are the following quotes that I have found the most interesting over the past week of offseason organized team activities.

James Davis Feels More Comfortable, But Still the Same as One Year Ago

Davis was drafted late in the 2009 NFL draft due to a shoulder injury he sustained in his senior year at Clemson, which dropped his draft stock.

The Browns snagged him late, and Davis showed promise all during training camp and preseason, until he got injured during a practice drill that was highly questioned for its safety. The NFL investigated and ruled that it was indeed a controlled practice environment.

After missing nearly his entire rookie season, Davis is back for round two in year two.

"It's been almost a year," Davis told CBSSports.com. "I feel like a rookie again. The difference is when I look at the playbook, I know what to do. I don't have to learn everything all over again."

With the stellar performance Jerome Harrison displayed in the last three games of the 2009 season and the addition of rookie second rounder Montario Hardesty, and the addition of fullback/halfback Peyton Hillis in the Brady Quinn trade, Davis has his work cut out for him.

But with the Browns focusing heavily on the run, he should not only make the final roster, but get a good share of reps in his "rookie season—take two."

Josh Cribbs and Seneca Wallace's "Cyclone Formation" Still Highly Talked About

Browns beat writer, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com, writes a quick passage about the Cribbs/Wallace formation which is now called the "Cyclone."

"More importantly, they seem to be running wild with ideas for Seneca Wallace and Joshua Cribbs in the double Wildcat formation," wrote Pluto.

"They are being bold, showing the media plays where Wallace throws to Cribbs, and Cribbs throws to Wallace. Long snaps can go to either player. They both can run and throw. Cribbs claims it will be nearly impossible for any team to prepare in one week for all the variety the Browns have planned."

Pluto, being one of the most tenured and respectable writers on The Plain Dealer's staff, touches once again on what all Browns fans cannot wait to see in action throughout the 2010 season and what opposing defensive coordinators are probably dreading right now as well.

Defenses couldn't stop Cribbs in his Flash packages one season ago, even when it was obvious he was getting that ball—now add that to a mix with Wallace and it sounds deadly for defenses, but more than entertaining for us fans!

Let's all hope the Browns can get the execution of this new Wildcat formation down perfectly before the regular season starts.

Montario Hardesty Does Not Play Or Present Himself as a Rookie

Pluto also went on in his weekly Sunday article to say that rookie running back Hardesty is not your typical wide-eyed rookie who seems overwhelmed with a new playbook and faster speed of the game.

"In a recent meeting, the coaches asked themselves, 'Has anyone noticed Montario?' What they meant was whether anyone saw Tennessee's Montario Hardesty line up in the wrong spot, run the wrong play, seem unprepared or overwhelmed," wrote Pluto. "They said he doesn't seem like a rookie, because he's been very solid."

For a team that wants to rely heavily on the running game, this is nothing but a good sign for the Browns in 2010.

In 2009, their passing attack was notoriously terrible and because of that, they had to stick with the run. What happened then was the Browns back a full-blown run-first team and ended the 2009 season ranked No. 8 in the NFL in rushing offense.

Look for that ranking to possibly get into the top-five of the NFL for 2010.

Browns Have Versatility at Linebacker

The Browns run a 3-4 defensive scheme and one of the keys to that scheme being successful is to have linebackers who are extremely versatile.

"We have a lot of linebackers right now who can play a lot of different positions and I think that's one of our strengths," Fujita told CBSSports.com. "I think a lot of us have a lot of versatility and that's going to be one of the big strengths of this defense."

Since the Browns changed to a 3-4 scheme in 2005, they have yet to find the right linebackers who can play the scheme well.

Now with the additions of veterans Fujita and Chris Gocong, the Browns are hoping that their current crop of linebackers will help improve their defensive rankings, which seem to be near the bottom of the NFL every year.

Browns Mix Up the Offensive Line Rotation During OTAs

During OTAs, there is no reason to think that a true depth chart will come out of any of the practices, since this is the time when new players get to connect with last year's players in order to build up a rapport on the field for game days.

Having starting left guard Eric Steinbach play on the second-team offensive line so that rookie Shawn Lauvao can play with the first team offensive unit, does not mean Steinbach has been demoted.

It's just a way to help all the players mesh together better.

"Right now, we mix everyone in because you want to have everyone work everywhere and everyone get reps everywhere,” center Alex Mack told Clevelandbrowns.com.

“We’re definitely mixing it up day-to-day with different people all the time. It really helps getting you used to working with other people communicating, so in season, if there are any injuries or anything or you’re moving people around, you’re used to it and it’s not a huge change. I think that’s the goal right now.”

It's good to see the Browns are moving players around so in case of injury—which does and will occur in the NFL—these guys will be familiar with each other when they have to move up on the depth chart.

Brian Robiskie Understands Everything Much Better in Year Two

Robiskie had a disappointing rookie season for being a high second round pick, but all Browns fans know that.

What they may not know, is that Robiskie understands everything much better in year two now and he will use that knowledge to make more of an impact on the offense this season.

"I’d like to think I’ve definitely grown and I’d like to think we’re a better team and I can keep getting better,” said Robiskie to the Browns' official Web site. “I don’t think there was any one part of my game that I could single out and say, ‘This is what I needed to do.’ For me, it was just making everything better, progressions in my run blocking, progressions in my route-running, understanding the system.”

Let's just hope that he indeed understands everything much better because even though he is getting glaring reviews during OTAs, players cannot be judged without pads on.

Hopefully, Robiskie will be ready for training camp, when pads and contact enter into the equation because getting covered by a defender in shorts is a night and day difference to being covered by one who will hit you hard.

Eric Mangini Believes Mike Holmgren is Not Against Him

The Holmgren/Mangini debate will continue unless Mangini can win football games in 2010.

Reporters have already said that if Mangini falters early, then Holmgren will run out of his executive suite at Cleveland Browns Stadium, while tearing open his button-down shirt to expose a Browns emblem underneath like Superman and take over as the head coach on the sideline.

"Holmgren tries to squelch any longings he might have to coach again, beating them down—if not for the sake of his own stomach, which did not handle defeats well at the end in Seattle—then for Mangini’s sake," wrote Les Carpenter of Yahoo.com. "He owes his coach the comfort that the boss does not desire his job."

This will most likely not happen and has been (is being) said because there are so many in the media who have been rubbed the wrong way by Mangini.

Rob Ryan Being Rob Ryan

In a fantastic story about Browns undrafted rookie Kwaku Danso, that can be read in full here on Yahoo.com, writer Les Carpenter tells a fantastic story of Danso's journey from his home in Ghana to becoming a Cleveland Brown.

The best part is when Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan went to East Carolina to watch other players workout before the 2010 NFL draft and Danso entered the room Ryan was in.

"Who the hell is that?" Ryan said to another Browns scout next to him.

Ryan was so enamored with Danso's size and look at 6'5" and 336 pounds, that he instantly became interested in Danso over all other players who he went to the college to watch.

Danso is not a traditional NFL rookie since he is 28 years old, but Ryan "loves the look in his eye," which is why he invited Danso to the Browns' rookie mini-camp despite having minimal playing experience in college.

More Cribbs/Wallace "Cyclone"

Doug Farrar wrote about a hypothetical play that the Browns could run in their Cyclone formation.

"In a hypothetical Browns [play], Cribbs would take the sweep hand-off from Wallace and hand the ball to Delhomme," wrote Farrar. "With the defense completely befuddled, Delhomme should be able to hit someone deep as the front seven cheats up to stop the run look."

Sounds good...let's see it!