CLEVELAND — Regardless of how this 2017 Browns season ends, it will be remembered as a disappointing campaign that saw a young team struggle from start to finish.
Despite a promising offseason — Cleveland fortified its offensive line in free agency, added three first-round picks and re-signed several key veterans — the Browns find themselves fending off the wrong side of history once again
"It's not fun. I don't like this because it teaches something that you don't want taught," coach Hue Jackson said. "It's either you have to learn to absorb this and deal with it or you have to learn to not wear it. It's one or the other. I am talking about losing. Let's just be honest. This is what happens, you start learning that this is OK. This is not OK. This isn't what any of us want to be a part of. "
That has been a point of emphasis for the Browns after their second 0-14 start in as many years and a 1-29 mark over the past two seasons. Sunday's 27-10 loss to the Ravens marked a low point in that span and leaves Cleveland with two more opportunities to earn its first win.
"I think the biggest impact of it would just be emotionally. Week after week, everybody is putting the work in," linebacker Joe Schobert said Monday. "Everybody is coming in and preparing their butts off. Just to not get the payout at the end of the day on Sundays definitely takes its toll."
The Browns stress, however, that they can't and won't get used to failure with an eye toward the future.
"I think I can speak for the defense, especially with (defensive coordinator) Gregg Williams, he doesn't let anything like that happen like complacency or getting used to losing. He doesn't allow that to happen in the meetings or on the practice field or even on game day," Schobert said.
"I don't think people are learning a culture of losing. I think everybody is striving to do their best week in and week out."
After an 0-7 mark at home, the Browns finish the season with back-to-back road trips to Chicago and Pittsburgh, which has defeated Cleveland in their past five meetings and 13 of the past 15 games.
"It's taking a toll, but everybody who's on the team has come from a winning program, whether it's high school, college or another NFL team before this," Schobert said. "Everybody knows how to win. It's just a matter of being able to do it here in Cleveland."
