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One of the best things about preseason was how Josh Cribbs returned kickoffs. Straight upfield. No nonsense. Fearless. He should be back in the lineup this week…

Cribbs never ran kickoffs until he came to the Browns. It’s a job nobody else wants. Former Browns returner Andre Davis didn’t want to do it, and punt returner Dennis Northcutt doesn’t want to do it. Cribbs embraces the job. “There’s a lot of linebackers running down full speed,” he said. “Wide receivers want to stay away from linebackers. I don’t care at all. I’m trying to make a mark at it. I’m trying to make a name for myself, being that tough guy willing to do whatever it takes.

On a side note…why was William Green the only one running back kickoffs in the meantime? He seems the antithesis of Cribbs, seems to slow down the closer he gets to the wedge.

Pat McManamon at the Akron Beacon Journal wrings his hands about how reporters deal with rumors on the Browns that swirled in the bye week, and kinda screws up.

Example two came during the off week when word spread around town that Trent Dilfer might not start against Chicago and that Charlie Frye had been told to get ready to start. These reports never reached print or broadcast; they were underground scuttlebutt. But the scuttlebutt was strong. Crennel brusquely cast those rumors aside as well, and without being mean or nasty made it clear exactly what he thought of them.

Ummm….did Pat know that it was the PD’s Roger Brown who made sure the rumor “reached print”?