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Browns Offensive Coordinator Brad Childress Press Conference 12-6-12

(On if he is finally starting to tap into Josh Gordon’s potential) – “Are we starting to tap into it? Yeah, I would hope it’s the tip of the iceberg. I just see him getting more comfortable every week with what we’re doing. Not having to think, letting his God-given athletic ability kind of show itself.”

(On if he pays more attention to Gordon now than he did four weeks ago) – “I think everybody probably pays attention to him just from the standpoint of he’s been behind the defense a few times. You kind of want to know where that guys at and who is going to play in front or who you’re going to play over top of him.”

(On if Gordon is deceptively fast and if he runs with ease) – “He’s a long strider. He’s a build speed guy. (He is) Probably faster at 60 yards than he is at 40 yards just because of how his stride takes him. You probably got that right, he does run with ease.”

(On Gordon being admittedly lost when he got here and if his growth has been as expected) – “I think that he’s met muster in every area that you may have wondered about. I talked before about him being a great note taker, being a studious guy in meetings and I think that’s helped him on the football field. Like I said, his God-given athletic ability is coming into play now. Just because he doesn’t have to think as much, he’s doing some things that don’t require a great deal of effort. In terms of processing it and getting out of the huddle, because you really want to be concentrating on what’s happening on the other side of the ball as opposed to what you’re supposed to be doing.”

(On if he anticipates defenses making adjustments to cover Gordon) – “I think we’re already seeing that. I think we’re seeing some different kind of roll coverage’s and that’s one of the things that he can be better at. He does have to make adjustments as a wide receiver because of some of the rolls and some of the conversions that routes take when people do roll to you.”

(On if he sees improvement from his offensive line and how are they working out for him) – “They’re about three quarters of the way there. I just think that they’ve been a very cohesive group even though there’s been some change in there. Typically, your good offensive lines, and I like to believe they’re a good offensive line, really play together and congeal together. I think I’ve really seen that from that group. George (Warhop) does a tremendous job with those guys, but it really takes the guys to kind of embrace it. Whether you’re a rookie or whether you’re a guy like John Greco, that’s starting because somebody else left. I see a very cohesive unit there.”

(On what John Greco brings to the table) – “He’s a meatball. We have a personnel grouping that’s called meatball and it’s fashioned after John Greco. I’ll let him go into that with you. Now, why they came up with the name meatball, because I’m not even sure.”

(On what areas has Brandon Weeden improved the most overall) – “I think just being comfortable with being able to articulate with ease our rather wordy plays. He’s the guy that disseminates information, so when everybody is standing in the huddle looking at him you don’t hear any stuttering or having to repeat. I think those are things that you take for granted. Once again, for him not to have to think about it, for him to be able to articulate exactly what the paragraph is that he has to say that requires a play. I think that has helped everybody and I’ve seen him probably make the most strides in that area.”

(On if Weeden seeing the field and finding his receivers is steadily improving) – “I think he’s steadily improving because he understands conceptually where everybody’s going to be. Not only does he understand conceptually, you have to know what people’s skill set is and how they’re going to go about getting there. Greg Little is different getting to a spot on the field than Josh Gordon is. They’re all kind of different so you have to be able to take that and transfer that into your scheme and then be able to see it and know how it’s all going to come out.”

(On if Greg Little playing more downs accounts for his increase in production and consistency) – “I think probably Tony (Grossi), your consistency and performance get you more consistently on the field. I think with his performance picking up then you’re trying to keep him on the field as much as you can as opposed to switching pieces in and out. There has also been a little bit of ebb and flow in terms of the injury factor at that position too. Who’s available, who’s in, who’s out (and) who’s got a hamstring, that type of thing. Like Bud Grant used to tell me, ‘Your best ability is availability.’ Those guys have been available, both Josh and Greg, throughout this whole football season.”

(On staying healthy being the origin of Little’s increase in playing time) – “Being healthy and when you’re there you get to take the turns. It’s one thing to take reps mentally on the side. You like those things, but it’s another thing to take them mentally and physically. I think you’ve seen Greg improve just from having been there.”

(On if the Raiders game was as accurate as Weeden has been all season) – “I wouldn’t call a couple of those interceptions accurate. I’d probably default to a game where he hasn’t thrown any interceptions, but he threw the ball pretty good. He had different kinds of throws. I’d probably, like I said, default to one where he didn’t throw errant passes.”

(On if he gave him a break on the second of Weeden’s interceptions against the Raiders where he got hit on the arm as he was throwing) – “We don’t give him a break on much. It goes down as an interception. People don’t want hear about whether it was tipped.”

(On the touchdown to Gordon, if Josh having to reach back for the ball was a case of his deceptive speed and if he has ever seen Weeden overthrow him in practice) – “I don’t think I’ve seen him overthrow him on one where he said, ‘You can’t throw it far enough to get it there,’ after the play fake and the play action. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him throw one past him. When he knew it was coming, let’s put it that way. That’s that build speed thing that you’re talking about. Everybody thought that was a great ball and you’re right, he did have to pull it off his back shoulder pad a little bit.”

(On if that was the case on the interception Weeden threw when he was trying to Gordon) – “Yeah, turning it over at a high further down the field. At 40 yards he’s just starting to get going.”

(On what Mohamed Massaquoi has to do to become a productive, consistent wide receiver now that he is healthy) – “It’s hard for me to say anything. He had a tremendous offseason. I would’ve been the first that would have told you that. I thought he had a very good training camp. I’m giving you a history lesson, but he’s out after one play in the Detroit game in the first preseason game. It’s hard for me to say anything but be healthy. He just needs to be healthy because being healthy gets you in there to take turns and then the quarterback gets a better feel for you. Then, those guys can relate a little bit and then there’s a little bit of confidence. Then good things end up happen, but I couldn’t say anything but be healthy.”

(On how his meeting with Paul Tagliabue went) – “It wasn’t a one-on-one, so it was fine. It was about this many people in the room. That’s probably all I want to say about it.”

(On if he believes that will be the extent of his involvement) – “Yeah, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

(On if he will have to get called back to the principal’s office) – “I don’t think so.”

(On Trent Richardson’s development) – “Same thing with Trent. I think Trent gets more comfortable each week and those couple of nicks and injuries have slowed him a little bit. I thought he had a lively practice yesterday. You can really kind of grade those things, how a guy comes back and practices on a Wednesday. Wednesday’s are often times, your body is not quite moving the way you want it from a Sunday game. I think it all has to do with how fresh he is coming out of a game. Sometimes, he can have 20 or 25 carries and maybe not have taken any real violent hits. Sometimes those 25 hits, there’s a price to be paid.”

(On if he sees Richardson as a heavy duty back) – “He’s our leading receiver, so he has been productive in the passing game and I see him picking up people in the blitz. I mean, he has carried the ball 20 times a game so I’d say he’s a workhorse.”

(On if Richardson can learn anything from Montario Hardesty’s running style) – “I think they learn from each other. The thing you learn is you want to be doing your best all the time, because somebody else can move ahead if you’re not careful. I think that’s a nice creative tension to have in the running back room. Do I mean that Montario can overtake (Richardson)? I don’t know that he can do that. When you have more people with skill, I think it’s always good to have that creative tension. Whether it’s a receiver, running back or tight end. Yet they all kind of pull for each other a little bit. I think it’s a good thing.”

(On if Weeden is becoming more comfortable throwing to the tight ends and the overall growth of Jordan Cameron) – “Jordan gets better and better. Remember, he hasn’t played football for very long. This being his second year and second year in the system and kind of having, as I say, that one lap around the track, to me is huge. Steve (Hagen) does a tremendous job with those tight ends. I believe you can learn as much at the back of the line like with Ben (Watson) talking to you, as you can at the front of the line when you’re taking a turn and Steve’s talking to you. I think those guys all kind of pull for each other and coach each other. Steve does a great job of orchestrating that whole thing. I just see him being more comfortable and more comfortable. Same thing, the confidence thing is huge. Between he and the quarterback and just himself having that confidence.”

(On how close this offense is to breaking out) – “I think we have to be better as a red zone team, first of all. If you’re going to get those points, you’ve got to be better in the red zone. That’s something that we probably haven’t accentuated as much as we would have liked to. It’s getting there. As I mentioned before, it’s about three quarters of the way through.”

(On Weeden throwing the ball with his knee down and flinging it out there) – “I wouldn’t say that was real advisable. I didn’t feel like that was a very smart thing to do. We trust you to take care of the football. It’s a sack of gold. The last thing you want to do is be nonchalant around the football.”

(On if he worked with Bud Grant) – “No, he was in the same building as us. Bud’s a great guy. He was always a great resource for me.”

(On when that was) – “At the Vikings.”