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Browns Offensive Coordinator Brad Childress Press Conference 10-11-12

(On if Brandon Weeden is being asked to throw too much and him being second in yardage) – “He’s second in yardage for a rookie too, right? Would I like to be able to run it more? Yeah, I would like to be able to run it more, but we put ourselves in some situations where the way that you have to come back is you have to throw the football. I don’t know if he’s being asked to. He’s holding up under it decently. That’s for you guys to say.”

(On if it’s a positive step for Weeden accepting his mistakes) – “I think anytime you can own it, that’s huge. I certainly haven’t put it in the ego category. I’ve told you guys before that for him to keep shooting is really important. Whether it’s in the face of an error to shut it down and clamp down, and just look five yards beyond the line of scrimmage is not a good thing. That’s something that I have seen with young quarterbacks that do shut it down and don’t keep shooting. I’d say, having learned from that and being able to acknowledge it is a plus, but I don’t want him to back up.”

(On how being short on receivers changes the way they approach the scheme) – “All those guys are being paid as professionals, so we’re really kind of a next man up operation. We kept a bunch of those guys, kept a handful of those guys up for the first games. I think we had five up for the first game. If we have to go down to three or four, we’ll go down to three or four and we’ll build it some other way. Alex Smith looks like he’s going to be back this week, and that helps you build other personnel packages.”

(On the ‘next man up’ not being as good as the injured players) – “You’d love continuity, but the fact is there are very few teams that are able to keep it. Usually the ones that keep it and stay injury free are the ones that ones you see in the playoffs at the end of the year. It’s a big deal to be able to stay injury free. If you can’t, you can’t. It’s a violent game.”

(On if he could go into the game with three wide receivers or if they would have to make a roster move) – “We could. You have to do whatever you have to do. You have to fill other areas too. You have to be able to fill the special teams. You just can make things up, you just can’t do it. We went into a game with two tight ends, which we’re used to carrying three. You do what you have to do.”

(On if he sees Alex Smith’s role continuing and what he sees in his skill set) – “He’s a smart football player, and therefore you can utilize him in a number of different ways. Whether it’s playing on the line of scrimmage, (or) playing in the backfield. You mentioned ‘H’ or as a fullback. Being able to motion him and displace him. He’s as good a blocker as he is a receiver. Yeah, he’s a great utility guy that you can use in a lot of different capacities.”

(On using Smith away from the ball) – “You can open him up. You can close him down. It’s rare that a guy can have the skills to be able to play in the back field as well as play on the line of scrimmage, and take care of the line of scrimmage.”

(On if seeing an imbalance in the run and pass in the first half affects how he calls the second) – “Not usually, because we’re tending to script our openers. It takes us through the first quarter, sometimes into the second quarter. We have a pretty good sense of where we’re at. It’s not like one of those ‘Hey, let’s throw it, throw it, throw it, throw it’, or ‘let’s run it, run it, run it, run it.’ We’ll never get into that. There are a lot of times, Tony (Grossi), to be honest with you that I don’t look at halftime stats. You’re doing it by the way you feel like you need to play to win the game.”

(On if he’s ever surprised when he sees the stats) – “I’m never surprised. There are times I think I’ve told you, that you guys were talking about numbers of plays for Trent when he first came back. We’re mindful sometimes of things like that. Sometimes we’ll count carries or touches, but that certainly hasn’t been the case for the last three weeks.”

(On Pat Shurmur being criticized for Richardson being off the field for the third and one play) – “We’d like to thrown it to the guy that flashed open in the flat. That’s where it was designed to go first and foremost, and the fact was we didn’t. We got a 50-50, we’re going to run it, (or) we’re going to throw it. We had it up as a throw and a completion for a first down, which it easily could’ve been. In my wildest dreams, I didn’t expect it to go back the other way.”

(On it being obvious that they were going to pass with Richardson not there) – “I don’t know if it was obvious, it was open. I know what you’re getting at, is you’re getting at, Trent how come he’s not in the game? He played, what 85 percent, which is 53 out of 60 plays. He has to get a drink of water sometime too, you know? A guy like (Chris) Ogbonnaya has been productive in what he has done for us. When we put them in the game, everybody has some kind of role. It’s not that somebody’s going to be in the game 100 percent of the time.”

(On if Weeden explained why he didn’t throw it) – “Why he didn’t throw it? He said he didn’t see it, I think.”

(On what he’s seen from Greg Little’s progression) – “I think there’s a time where we’d like to see more consistency catching the football. Is he evolving as a pro? Yeah, I think he’s probably getting a little bit smarter in terms of what we’re doing systematically. Unfortunately, you can’t quantify it with numbers or stats or catches, but he’s doing a good job blocking down the field. He’ll get his opportunities. His opportunities will come. Sometimes, as I mentioned before, he’s first in progressions, sometimes he’s last and sometimes he’s getting it whether he’s first or last.”

(On if he and Shurmur talk about the criticism he receives from fans and media) – “We don’t talk about that. I’m not a big reader or watcher of television coverage sorry to say. I don’t mean that. It’s like telling a professor that you’re not studying his stuff. I just simply don’t have time. Pat’s an emotional guy, and we’re all emotional people, and I’m sure that you catch some of that sometimes. When you’re the lead dog, that’s what goes with that. That’s where it gets pinned.”

(On if the approaching ownership change has caused stress) – “Once again, not for me. I’d be reticent commenting about anyone else in the building. You’d have to talk about that. I have enough stress being 0-5 right now.”

(On if he has a reaction to Jimmy Kennedy being called a ‘whistle blower’ in the bounty case) – “I just look at it in the rearview mirror. I don’t even know what Jimmy’s doing at this point in time. Is he on a team somewhere? I know he was on the (New York) Giants most recently, last year. Once again, I haven’t really been following it.”

(On how Josh Gordon has come along and how he’s handling NFL life as a rookie) – “He’s definitely dressing better. His sartorial splendor is something to watch when gets on the plane now. I’ve seen it really evolve here in the last five weeks. I think I mentioned to you guys that he had his best week of practice as a pro, or best practice at that point, because I think I spoke to you on Thursday, we hadn’t practiced yet. It kind of manifested itself on the field. Once you see that, once you see him practice that way and perform that way, you have expectations where you say, ‘We can’t go back to any back steps.’ Will we back step? We might. That’s part of being a rookie. We’re only five weeks into this thing. I think he’s making good progress and I told you before he’s a smart guy, he’s a great note taker. He has become a better practice player and game player.”

(On how Gordon is dealing with coming in with a bit of history) – “To my eye, I sure don’t see him in any public specter or anything like that. I think he’s doing a good job. The only way I have to judge him, is what he’s doing in meetings, what he’s doing on the field. Is he showing up on time? Is he productive when he’s here? I’ve seen that from him. He seems to be a good worker.”

(On if the bow tie is a good look for him) – “Bow tie? I don’t know. I’m probably not prone to bow ties.”

(On the one play where Montario Hardesty, Ogbonnaya and Richardson were all in the backfield together and what he likes about that formation) – “We were just playing around with it to see what kind of match we’d get, what kind of look we’d get. We may trot it out there every now and then. It’s kind of a tendency breaker. As long as you’re running and throwing, like you said there’s only one play of it. We just need to make sure that we weigh those things both ways, both run and pass.”

(On his breakdown of the offensive line against the Giants and what makes the Bengals defensive line so good) – “They have good length. Last week, I think the Giants represented a great challenge in terms of those four guys we talked about (Jason) Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck and how they play along the front. I thought our guys gave a good account of themselves in the offensive line. Like you said, not to have a sack, but that goes from the quarterback to the running back to the offensive line. I might tell you that I feel like just looking at the Bengals, that I feel like they are a more talented line right now than the New York Giants from the standpoint of those two big defensive ends. Last time we played them, (Carlos) Dunlap wasn’t playing in there, so they’ve added him and it looks like he’s getting to crank it up. Geno Atkins may be as high of a motor guy that we face on the inside. He’s really a good football player. I guess I didn’t have a great appreciation for him until I got in and studied him in this division. (He’s) really a good football player. We’ll have our hands more than full with the people they put out there.”

(On Jason Pinkston’s matchup with Atkins) – “It’s not just going to fall on the inside three, because he’s going to play on that side and he’ll play on the other side. It’s kind of dictated by formation and places you are on the field, where he’s going to play, whether he’s going to play over to left guard, right guard and center. Those inside three are going to have to be sturdy, but those outside tackles are going to have a day’s work with their two rush guys as well.”

(On if he’s happy with how the offensive line has adjusted) – “You know what? I don’t do happy very well. I’m okay. Okay? I’m not happy, happy.”

(On how the offensive line is blocking especially Pinkston and Shawn Lauvao) – “I almost misunderstood you. I thought you said, ‘How is the offensive line blogging?’ You specifically want to know about Pinkston and Lauvao, how they’re blocking. Okay. Pinkston and Lauvao, there’s so few, ‘hey this an individual block.’ There usually working in combination, either with Alex Mack or with (Mitchell) Schwartz or with Joe Thomas, so I’d be reticent given you how are they blocking? It’s usually such a collaborative effort in there with those guys. I’m better off just to tell you I’m okay with the offensive line.”

(On if the pass blocking is ahead of the run blocking) – “You know, I think we can get better in both. I think we can grow in both areas. I just don’t portion it off that way. It’s a cumulative, how did we do in the game? How did we run it? How did we throw it? Those guys don’t step up and take bows because there were no sacks, like I told you the running back’s got a little piece of that puzzle and the quarterback’s got a huge piece of the puzzle because he’s got the ball in his hands. I just think we can be better all the way across the offense really.”