On DB Jamar Taylor and his status for Thursday's game:
"He is questionable."
On if it will be tough for Taylor to play Thursday, given the quick turnaround:
"It is going to be tough. We will see if we can get him there. If we can't, we will move forward."
On if the Ravens offense looks different than Week 2, given the offensive coordinator change:
"Yeah, I mean they are starting to play in (Ravens offensive coordinator) Marty's (Mornhinweg) mindset. They throw the ball deep, but I think they have always kind of done that. They are screening the ball, but they are running the ball. He is definitely putting his influence on the offensive football team, but at the same time, I think we all know that takes a little time. I think they are working through those kinks as they go, and I think their players are becoming more comfortable."
On if OL Cameron Erving has a good mindset heading into this game after his ejection in Week 9:
"He should be. He is well rested, that is for sure (laughter). We teased him yesterday. He has fresher legs than anybody. You can't be throwing helmets. No, I think he is ready to go, and I think his mindset is good. I think he is looking forward to playing."
On how the Browns are a different from the first matchup against the Ravens in Week 2:
"Much different. Obviously, we have been through a lot of different highs and lows. We are probably more game-ready to play than what we were in Game 2. I know the results do not say that, but I think we understand and obviously, we have played more games now than we did at that point. We kind of know who we are a little bit more and we know what we need to accomplish to give ourselves the best opportunity to win. From that standpoint, we are much further along, but we are not where we want to be and I think we all know that."
On if the Browns are extra motivated to show that their record is not indicative of how hard they play, particularly since Thursday's game will be nationally televised:
"Our guys have tried to do that every week, and sometimes it does not go that way. This is football. This game is really fickle, and I think we all understand that. Our guys, if I can say anything about them, they fight. They play hard. They do everything we ask of them. No one is perfect. Football is not perfect, but our guys try and that is more than you can ask for sometimes in certain situations. This team has been through a lot, but they keep on swinging. Do we want to go out there and win the game? Yes, we are not going there just to show up. We are going there to win the game. It is a division game against a division opponent, a good football team who is leading the AFC North, and we have to go play well to do that. That is what we are looking forward to doing."
On why the Ravens defense is so productive on third down:
"(Ravens defensive coordinator) Dean Pees has done a great job. They have really good players. It starts up front. The first person you look at is (Ravens OLB) Terrell Suggs, and (Ravens DL Timmy) Jernigan, and then (Ravens LB C.J.) Mosley is playing extremely well. He is playing as well as any linebacker in the league. In the secondary, they have (Ravens DB) Jimmy Smith and they are a good football team on defense. The really good defensive football teams are able to slow you down on third down. They have done a good job of it. We have played these guys before and we did a pretty good job on third down the last time we played them. I am sure they are going to do everything they can to make it difficult, and we have to do everything we can to convert. It will be a good challenge."
On Ravens S Eric Weddle and what makes him such a good football player:
"He is very smart. I have competed against Eric a ton at one time being over in the AFC West, and he is like having a quarterback on the field. He knows how to play. He is a veteran player. He is very smart. You can tell he studies the game because he normally knows where the ball is going before you even say 'set, hut.' He has done a good job for them, and he has helped solidify their defense in the backend. He has done a good job for them."
On LB Jamie Collins Sr. and WR Corey Coleman and if they may have more of an impact after being able to practice more:
"The two guys you mentioned, I think they both want to go out and play better than what they did a week ago. I think that is the improvement you look for from Game 1 to Game 2. In Jamie's situation, knowing the defense better in Week 2 and understanding his teammates and how to play off of those guys will help him. For Corey, I think you said it, I am not going to say it was rust; he just had not played more so. Just that being in the game, going through the calls, making the decisions that he has to make to do his job is different when you are practicing and it is different in walkthroughs. When the other guy on the other side is trying to take your head off, it is a little different. Game 2, Corey will play much better this week."
On the Browns offense starting fast, why it has not lasted for a full game and if it is a result of the pace of the game or opponents' adjustments:
"I don't sense the pace changing. If we are playing in no huddle, we are playing in no huddle. If I decide to take us out of no huddle, I take us out of no huddle. I don't get that feeling. When I watch our football team, we have had opportunities to make the same plays that we made in the first half in the second half. For whatever reason, we have not made them. Our players will tell you that to a man that is the frustrating part for them and frustrating part for us all. When the plays are there you have to make them. We just have not done it, and sometimes, we have, too. When you look up, just the consistency of doing it play in and play out, that is when you become a pretty decent offensive football team, but we just are not there yet and that is OK. When you are playing with a lot of young players – that is not making an excuse because at the same time, the young players that we have had, they are not young players anymore – they have to play at that level, at a high level, but I will say this, the pressure of doing everything right for a young player for 65, 55 plays in a game is tough. It is hard of doing it just the right way all the time. The discipline for them of doing that becomes a little difficult at times, and they have to fight through that. The more they play, the better they are going to get and the more the offense will flow."
On deciding to receive the ball to open Sunday's game and if that was based on a gameplan for Dallas or wanting to try something different:
"I wanted to try something different. I thought it was time to mix it up. I think you guys kind of know me now. I will try anything. Don't be surprised by what you might see Thursday night."
On if the Browns would try an onside kick:
"You never know."
On the concept of playing games on Thursday night:
"We are one of the 32 teams in this league and we all have to do it. I am not going to say I love it. I think it is tough on players. I think it is tough on the staff. You have to cram a lot of information into a short window of time and then there is getting their bodies healed back up and prepared to play. The biggest thing I talk about with our team is just making sure – I have to use this word today – the process is right. You can't go change and start doing a lot of things differently than what you are used to doing because then all of a sudden, you will be somewhere else or thinking something else. That is what the teams that do it really well and play really well on Thursday night. They figure out that you can't go changing everything and doing things totally different than what you normally did during the week so that hopefully it kind of feels the same to you when you get ready to play, but we will do some things differently just to help our team."
On Kessler doing a good job of not throwing interceptions and protecting the ball but if he is potentially too careful and not taking enough risks:
"Are you asking do I want to see the ball go down the field more? Yes, I do. I think it needs to. That is the way we in this offense score more points. Cody has done a good job of distributing the ball and he has done a good job of putting the ball in the right places for the most part, but he knows now that in the National Football League you have to sometimes take a few more chances to score points because the defenses are too good. They will give you certain things because they know you will take them and try to beat you in the other things. We have to always stay aggressive and push the ball when we can because it gives us a chance to have big plays and make big plays."
On how to teach Kessler what risks are appropriate to take while protecting the football:
"You said it best, it is risk versus reward. Sometimes the reward is going to happen that is greater than the risk. We have in our system opportunities to do that. There are things that we will try to do and will call that will maximize that opportunity. If it is not, then we check the ball down, we throw it away or we do what we need to do. He has done a good job of that. The question was could he do that a little more. Probably so because it will lead to, as I keep saying, more points for our football team and that is what we need. We need to score more points."
On keeping negativity from filtering into the team when each loss can have more of a mental impact:
"We can't [let negativity filter in]. It is not about that right now for us. It is about this team really staying together and fighting together. I think you guys know within these walls is a brotherhood here. We all have each other's back. We understand the situation we are in, but that doesn't mean that we aren't doing some things better than what we have ever done here. I do believe there are a lot of good things that are going on here. It just hasn't shown up in the win ledger. That is unfortunate because that is why all of us do what we do. It is about wins and losses. We try to really focus on the positives and not really try to get into the negative very much. I do and I will comment on what (LB Christian) Kirksey said, and I support him 100 percent. Somehow, someway, we are going to find a way not to be 0-16. That is not where we want to be. We don't want to be 0-9 right now to be very honest with you. We are going to fight our tails off, and it starts on Thursday night again. Our guys come in here every week with the mindset of 'Look, we are going to go back out here, we are going to do it again, we are going to give you everything we have and we are going to go try and change this.' That is what they have been doing."
On how Kessler has responded to his comments that the QB's main job is to win games:
"He has done it well. You can only do what you can do. I am not trying to stretch Cody and make him do more than what he is capable of doing, but you said it – if they score 30, we have to score 31. We have to find a way. That is the life of playing quarterback in the National Football League and that is the life of the head coach of a team. Your job is to win. We all have a job to do, and he has to do it as well as he can. Now, he is a young guy, a young player. There are going to be different stresses that you have to deal with, and this is one of them at this position. I think he gets that, but I think he has always had that mechanism to deal that, whether it was at USC or whether it is here now. That is what comes with it and we accept that. I think he does and understands it and deals with it as well as anybody."
