A visit to University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center on Tuesday afternoon gave Browns nose tackle Danny Shelton perspective.

"Honestly just thinking about our situation, it's easy for us to be down and negative and these opportunities that we get to go out in the community, if it's little kids who are struggling in school or patients in the hospital trying to fight for their lives it's just kind of giving us a different perspective on where we are in our lives," said Shelton, referencing an 0-4 start to the season that's watched Cleveland suffer three-straight narrow defeats.

"This was an awesome opportunity to get here and get some motivation and kind of flip the switch and continue to fight for the Browns and Cleveland and everyone who's fighting as well."

Shelton, running back George Atkinson III, kicker Cody Parkey and practice squad players in wide receiver Darius Jennings and cornerback Trey Caldwell visited with patients battling breast cancer and other forms of the disease as well as members of the center's staff. There were hugs, pictures and autographs to go around for everyone, as they passed out gifts to patients.

Shelton, in particular, was a favorite Tuesday and had the opportunity to visit one-on-one with those undergoing inpatient treatment. 

"Everyone that I met today, it was really emotional. For me I felt at a vulnerable place when I was talking to some of them, just seeing how happy they are just to see us and just knowing what they're going through. It's really just cool to see happy faces smiles and just being in this room, being in the hospital," he said.

"I mean, it's cool just walking around the halls … there's a lot of things you see here and it kind of hits me because any moment in my life I could wind up here for my own reasons or for a family member and just to see these people here smiling and having a good time, it really lifted my spirits."

The Browns will promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month, supporting the American Cancer Society and the team's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer initiative as part of the "A Crucial Catch" campaign, on Sunday's game against the Patriots and throughout October. For more information on the "A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives" breast cancer screening campaign, visit nfl.com/pink.

The Browns are dedicated to #give10 through the team's First and Ten initiative. Launched in June 2014, the Cleveland Browns First and Ten campaign is the team's community program, established to inspire fans to volunteer in and help their communities throughout the world by volunteering for 10 hours each year.

Through First and Ten, the Browns are the only NFL club to promote a long-term volunteering program that unifies the team and its entire fan base, with the goal of impacting every individual's city across the globe, as well as the franchise's local community. All Browns fans are encouraged to join the volunteering effort by signing the First and Ten pledge on the team's website and by sharing their stories with #give10.

University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and 200 physician offices in 15 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system's flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located on a 35-acre campus in Cleveland's University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

The main campus, which includes the Seidman Cancer Center (part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center), is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, dermatology, transplantation and urology.

UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including "America's Best Hospitals" from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at UH – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is the second largest employer in northern Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, visit www.uhhospitals.org.