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CLEVELAND BROWNS HEAD COACH ERIC MANGINI

(Opening Statement)- “Just in talking with the team, the thing I was most happy with in the game was the way that we finished.  Going into the second half and out-gaining them 181 yards to 59, that’s what we are looking for, to be able to come out at halftime and have that type of offensive production and that type of defensive production.  Obviously you don’t want to turn the ball over and we had a really good opportunity to score there.  The other thing I talked to the guys about is just what a difficult time of the year this is because there are a lot of good people in that locker room and unfortunately, we can’t keep them all.  It’s one of those things where I want you to know how much I appreciate the hard work that they put in and that whether they are with us on the 53, on the practice squad or they move on, that I am going to be there to help them.  We have got a lot of tough decisions to make here in the next couple of days and I’ll sit down with Tom (Heckert) and Mike (Holmgren) and we will do that.  I liked the way that we worked throughout camp. I liked a lot of the things that I’ve seen throughout camp and the preseason games.  We are excited to get an opportunity to play for real here next weekend.”

(On Montario Hardesty’s injury)- “I just know that it was the other leg.  It wasn’t the leg that he was coming back from, it was the other leg.  In terms of anything specific, not really Jeff (Schudel).  He has to go through tests and things like that.  I’ll probably have more information tomorrow.”

(On if he was concerned with Hardesty getting too much contact in practice and tonight after coming back from injury)- “That’s one of those questions that, having Mike in the building, I really benefit from.  I sat down with him and talked about it.  It’s a tough decision.  You want to be able to see a guy, you want to make sure that he’s prepared to play in the opener and do the things that he needs to do.  You’re also concerned about the volume of work he’s been able to have up to that point.  As we talked about it, we decided that this was going to be his last opportunity to get that work, so we thought it was the best idea to do that.”

(On the fumble on the first snap between Colt McCoy and Shawn Lauvao)- “They worked together all week and Shawn has been taking reps at center throughout the course of training camp.  Not as many as we probably would have liked to, that’s why we played him as much as we did at center tonight because he missed that time.  It could have been a little bit of jitters on both of their parts.  It was Shawn’s first work there and it’s the first play of the game.  I thought he came back and did a much better job.  Obviously as we went out, we had another hiccup on the cadence.  One of those where he should have snapped it and he didn’t, but that’s the benefit of him being able to play here tonight in that position, give him some exposure in a lot of situations.”

(On on Colt settling down after the initial fumble to go 13 of 13 passing)- “Yes, I thought he had some nice reads, some nice passes.  He was an accurate guy in college and you could see his accuracy here tonight.  As we talked about last week, he’s made progress throughout the course of the preseason, which is what I was looking for and what I expect.  He does have an excellent work ethic, he’s a smart kid and this is a whole new world in a whole new way to prepare for a game than what he’s used to.”

(On if McCoy hurt his thumb tonight)- “Nothing that would’ve kept him out.  We just put Brett (Ratliff) in at the time that we thought he should go in.  It wasn’t injury based, he could have kept playing.”

(On how Brandon McDonald did during the game) “I thought the whole secondary a lot of guys playing some different spots.  I thought Brandon did some nice things its one of those things when you’re watching guys in different spots you don’t focus in on one guy so in terms of an overall assessment of how we played I don’t think that there are any glaring errors and there were a few nice plays mixed in there as well.”

(On David Bowens playing hard at the end of the game) “David Bowens is one of my favorite players that I have ever coached.  I can’t say enough about David Bowens he’s a good person, he’s a good leader and I have nothing but absolute respect for him and really enjoy coaching him, I like David a lot.”

(On if David Bowens’ extended play tonight was to get into shape or for game tape for other teams) “ No he hasn’t been able to play very much in the preseason so there is another guy that wanted him to be able to play and work in some different spots.  He worked a little bit in the inside last week, he worked inside this week and he also had some work as a sub rusher so that was part of the plan.  Same thing with Tony Pashos is a guy who missed a lot of the preseason this is our last real chance to do anything in terms of reps and playing time.”

(On if he is concerned with the pass rush going into the season) “I think that my main focus is for us to keep building on what we have defensively and to make sure the things that we run are as tight as possible, because the pass rush will come based on coordinated defense and that’s the philosophy.  It’s not the pass rushers, it’s the scheme and the way that the players execute this game and I think there has been some really good examples of that and I think there’s been some examples where we had some great opportunities and didn’t hit the way that we should of and when we do good things happen.  We either hit the quarterback or disrupt his throw or we get the sack.  That’s more my emphasis as opposed to one pass  rusher, another pass rusher.”

(On how James Davis played) “I thought he looked good, I thought he showed a nice burst.  As far as I could tell it looked like he was solid in pass protection, it’s a little bit tougher to evaluate from the sideline but he had opportunities and took advantage of those opportunities.  That was another thing we talked about with a lot of guys tonight, is make sure at the end of the day there’s no regrets and whatever you can do in terms of maximizing your opportunities make sure that you do it, because it is a function of us making a lot of tough decisions as well as other people looking at this tape and other opportunities that can open up.  I thought a lot of the guys took advantage of the opportunities tonight.”

(On if James Davis got banged up) “He got a little nicked up but he went back in as well. Sometimes it’s a player or two or series or two with guys but he came in as well.”