Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images
Figurs could return kicks for the Browns this week.
Just before the half-way point of the season, the Cleveland Browns placed two starters on the injured reserve -- RT Tony Pashos and DE Robaire Smith. It's unclear what type of injury Pashos suffered, but he'll likely be replaced by John St. Clair soon. As far as Smith goes, he had a back injury and the move was somewhat expected given the reports over the past few days.
With two roster spots open, the Browns quickly filled them with the following two players:
- WR Yamon Figurs:By signing Figurs over a guy like Sam Aiken, it tells me that Figurs will probably return kicks this week against the New Orleans Saints (with Joshua Cribbs then being inactive). If he sounds familiar to you, he should -- he returned kickoffs and punts for the Baltimore Ravens from 2007-2008. He hasn't done much over the past two seasons, as he floated between the rosters of the Raiders, Lions, and Buccaneers. If Cribbs can play, he's still wide receiver depth behind the concussed Mohamed Massaquoi.
- OG Paul McQuistan: He was a third round draft pick for the Raiders in 2006 (69th overall). He played with them for three seasons. In his rookie year, he played 6 games at right guard before being benched. In 2007, he played right tackle and started six games there. He was placed on the injured reserve in 2008, and then spent last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He'll serve as depth at right tackle with Pashos gone.
Guy know how to make a fashion statement:
Lets see if he can make a statement for the right tackle spot, he looks that part too, maybe he´s the scrappy we´ve been looking for since Ryan Tucker retired:
Lets see what Figurs can do at the wide out slot, first team all big 12, and 3rd round draft pick in 2007, sounds promising.
mooncamping - October 20, 2010
On a side note, remember this guy? Phil Trautwein out of Florida, guy looks like he´s Ron Perlman´s lost son. I know you´re not supposed to comment on how people look, but I couldn´t resist. We should get him back from the Rams, for the double whammy in the red head department, no?:
Big guy in action:
mooncamping - October 20, 2010
I remember that pic. Rookie hazing, right?
Brownie's Year - October 20, 2010
Yup.
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
“The scrappy we’ve been looking for since Ryan Tucker”
This made my night.
Ryan Kelsey - October 20, 2010
But really, what is Scrappy without Scooby?
JustBob - October 20, 2010
Annoying. Even with Scooby.
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
Kimble_79 - October 21, 2010
They like eating, not a bad start for an offensive lineman.
mooncamping - October 21, 2010
surprised he didn’t play for the steelers with that hair cut.
johnnyphoenix - October 21, 2010
via twitter from Nate Ulrich, Beacon Journal Browns beat reporter:
woodsmeister - October 20, 2010
That is too bad. Gotta be tough to come to that realization as a player.
Bernie19Kosar - October 20, 2010
golanbatrac - October 20, 2010
Well, that’s good at least.
SpecialBrownie - October 20, 2010
at least he’s taking it well.
notthatnoise - October 20, 2010
I’ll give Mangini props for reaching out to Smith.
kingcrimson2 - October 20, 2010
Pretty classy all around.
Brownsyup - October 21, 2010
Man that’s rough.
rufio - October 20, 2010
Tough. Wasn’t he named a captain this year? If I remember right, it was the first time he had been named a captain and was very gracious and motivated by that. I’ve always really like Robaire… hopefully he can make another run at playing, but if not, he has a successful post-football career/life.
Ryan Kelsey - October 20, 2010
Man today sucks.
I have to cram for Econ tomorrow, and we lose more OL and DL depth and both may be done for their careers.
Also, can someone delete Moon’s comment? I really don’t want to see that picture each time I click to see the comments.
SpecialBrownie - October 20, 2010
I have a Spanish test followed by a math test today. Awful, awful day.
emily522 - October 20, 2010
Oh, I also have to cram for Social Problems and Adolescent Psych.
SpecialBrownie - October 20, 2010
I have a job to go to.
Is this Facebook now?
browndawgbacker - October 20, 2010
Better take it down. SB must be appeased… :)
shep615 - October 20, 2010
Just finished part 1 of my english final.
Now, i have to read 100 pages and do 2 short 1-2 paragraph essays on the 100 pages by tomorrow at 6 (plus work tonight…)
I feel ya about it sucking.
bross09 - October 20, 2010
Man I listen to Econtalk and Planet Money as a hobby. How sick is that?
Brownsyup - October 21, 2010
I get a ton of podcasts from places like Harvard Business school, U-Chicago business school, and other things business news related.
plus, I get some law ones too.
bross09 - October 21, 2010
Sounds like fun.
Brownsyup - October 22, 2010
Mangini Question
At this point of the season, how do you think Mangini is doing? Do you think he job will be there at the end of the year? What do you think he may need to do to keep his job? Just interested in your thoughts?
champion64 - October 20, 2010
I don’t see any point in firing him mid-season really—what would we gain? I see the players playing hard. I think the coaches should be better at gameplanning than they have been. We have been close and competitive in many games, despite the fact that we probably don’t have the talent edge against almost all of the team’s we’ve played.
The big questions Mangini must answer—at least the big questions I have for him—are things that have to be answered behind closed doors. Mostly about how he fits with Holmgren and the structure of the organization—how his philosophies meld with H&H.
rufio - October 20, 2010
Mangini is who we thought he is. I’m really not a big fan of alot of his gameday decisions personally. Stoneface bonehead. And he is loyal to a fault to Daboll.
Do you think he job will be there at the end of the year?
Barring extreme circumstances I think there is no chance he gets fired IN-season. None. Holmgren just doesn’t work that way.
I think it would be much harder to lose it than keep it. Wins/losses is tough to say…but if i was prez; this team talent wise is better than last years IMO, so I’d say he needs to win 5 or more (not likely—but possible I suppose). Bear in mind he’s got Daboll etc. as fire bait, too. Replacing Daboll and bringing in a proven, veteran OC in the offseason could definitely buy Mangini some more time. My instincts tell me he ends up back next year…even if we only win 3 or 4.
johnnyphoenix - October 21, 2010
out of curiosity, which gameday decisions do you think are boneheaded?
notthatnoise - October 21, 2010
I’d probably give Mangini a B. I don’t think the team is typically underachieving (see The Cowboys for this) but we probably should have won a game or two that we lost. Is a B good enough? It is if you don’t have an A to put in its place.
I’m of the opinion that Holmgren may have retained Mangini and Daboll as fall-guys for what surely looked like a pretty rough season this year. If he comes in an puts his own guys in at the beginning, then he takes a lot of the blame for an unsuccessful season. Right now there is a “blame buffer” between himself and the fans. The first buffer is Daboll and he might go mid-season. The second buffer is Mangini and he may go at the end of the season but ONLY if there is an A-list replacement. I can’t imagine Holmgren bringing in a new, untried head coach from the either the college ranks or the coordinator pool. I think Holmgren is all about getting obviously better with every move. Change is only good if you are reasonably sure you are making an improvement. Otherwise, change itself can become the problem.
Brownsyup - October 21, 2010
I don’t think so. Holmgren has forgotten more about football than I will ever know, and I’m sure he knows that it takes a coach more than just 2 seasons to instill a program and get a team turned around. Especially when we were called camp powderpuff under the previous regime.
North Coast Flea - October 20, 2010
Reply failure to Champion64.
North Coast Flea - October 20, 2010
That is basically what I recall Holmgren saying himself. So as long as he walks the walk, Mangini should be around next year – unless that Cincy win is our limit for the year. Perhaps even then Homgren would take available roster talent and injuries into consideration when deciding Mangini’s value.
JustBob - October 20, 2010
A question I’ve been discussing is: Should Holmgren make some kind of statement soon about this season? I mean why should I even consider going down to the stadium and watching if we are basically packing it in for this season? Are we even going to try to improve the team and win some games or is it all about the draft next year at this point?
To me, I’m just not sure it doesn’t make more sense for him to just keep quiet. If he comes out in support of Mangini then he would look bad if at 1-10 or something he fired him. If he gives less than a ringing endorsement, then Mangini might completely lose the team. But what hope do the fans have? When a fan goes to the stadium doesn’t she have some kind of expectation of seeing a win? Shouldn’t Holmgren communicate something that might give the fans a hope that will motivate them to keep watching?
Brownsyup - October 21, 2010
I think the team is obviously trying to win, and playing the games is part of improvement. I don’t know where you got the idea they were doing anything for the sake of the draft.
you know what will keep us fans watching? the fact that this team hasn’t given up. the fact that they are competitive in every single game. I would be extremely surprised if we don’t win at least 5 games this season.
notthatnoise - October 21, 2010
^ I agree with all of this. (Since just saying “this” annoys some people.)
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
And yet, the comment you agreed with has no recommendations as of the writing of this reply.
woodsmeister - October 21, 2010
So?
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
I think he means you didn’t rec it, although you agree with it, maybe?
Villeslgr - October 21, 2010
I guess I didn’t know there was a rule that I had to rec everything I agree with.
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
That’s not what I was saying I was just trying to offer a possible explanation.
Villeslgr - October 21, 2010
I know.
North Coast Flea - October 21, 2010
My point is that a “me too” post without a rec is really kinda pointless. We need more recs and fewer “me too” posts.
woodsmeister - October 21, 2010
I agree with the first part. I do think the players are giving great effort. At the beginning of the season I had the Browns winning 7. I think the schedule has turned out to be tougher than I thought but right now I’d say the most likely number of victories is 4. It is just hard to imagine nothing really changes as far as coaching when the prospects are that the team’s principal result (wins) is worse than last year when last year was unwatchable. I will say, however, that maybe even with a worse result, we could make the argument that the team is better. It irks me to do so though as a fan and I wouldn’t mind Holmgren giving us some kind of idea of what he is thinking as far as making the team better. If I see this as part of an overall strategy that makes sense, it would help.
Brownsyup - October 22, 2010
It’s a shame fans are so results oriented in a rebuilding year. If they only won four games this year I would still consider the season a success if they were competitive in every game. the record doesn’t matter this season.
notthatnoise - October 22, 2010
tough schedule as well
Villeslgr - October 22, 2010
i don’t know what he’s supposed to say? the trading deadline has passed, so there’s very little of meaning that the browns can do to improve the roster. the team has actually played 5.7 close games, so it seems pretty clear that they haven’t quit… i just can’t think of what he’d say in a statement about the season, or why anyone would assume that the organization has packed it in for this year.
DontCallMeJoey - October 21, 2010
Is the 5.7 close games on purpose? If so… LOL.
Brownsyup - October 22, 2010
I am pretty sure it was. Once the steelers wore us down they blew us out. We kept it very close for about .7 of that game.
rufio - October 22, 2010
indeed.
DontCallMeJoey - October 22, 2010
I honestly don’t think Holmgren needs to come out in support of Mangini. Aside from the Steelers loss, exempting Colt looking like he had a clue, I’ve think we have proven to be competitive and have shown improvement. We’ve played a pretty tough schedule thus far and have not looked any worse than league average in my opinion. Which might not seem great, but I think it says alot considering where we’ve been.
Villeslgr - October 21, 2010
I’ve been thinking about the state of the team for the last couple days now. 1-5 just isn’t really something that I’m content with as a fan, even if we’ve been in these games into the 4th quarter. I would consider this season a failure if we don’t win at least 5 games. To me, it would feel like we’d be going backwards. And to go backwards after last year, after those qb’s and those injuries, would be a damn shame. I would expect their be a coaching change as well.
I would love nothing more than to somehow shock the world on Sunday. To beat the super bowl champs at their home would be such a boost for everyone’s morale, team and fans. Seems like it would be a good boost for Colt too, which of whom I am a fan of, even if he’s quick to duck out of the pocket. I have no desire to see Jake or Seneca again, unless Colt gets hurt or suddenly starts playing like Jimmy Clausen.
I just feel like we all thought this team would be better. I think we see alot of the silver lining, but to me, the wins must come as well. At least 5.
Big Daddy Hickman - October 21, 2010
Villeslgr - October 21, 2010
but we wouldn’t be going backwards. how you “feel” about it is irrelevant to reality. I feel like Rick Nash deserves the Hart every year, but he doesn’t.
Again, wins are unimportant this season. we aren’t making the playoffs. would you rather be 7-9 and look terrible, or be 3-13 and show improvement every game?
notthatnoise - October 22, 2010
what the heck is a Rick Nash?
DontCallMeJoey - October 22, 2010
I’m assuming a hockey player because he mentioned the Hart.
North Coast Flea - October 22, 2010
What’s a Hart?
Ryan Kelsey - October 23, 2010
…said Art Modell.
golanbatrac - October 23, 2010
I believe he was referring to the Hart Memorial Trophy.
North Coast Flea - October 23, 2010
What’s a Chuck Liddell?
Bernie19Kosar - October 22, 2010
Yep, who’s Rick Nash??
Pardon my words, such as the word “feel”, seeing as how this is a blog and all. I think you getting on me about that is a bit on the lame side.
Big Daddy Hickman - October 22, 2010
Who’s Rick Nash? Here, let me Google that for you.
woodsmeister - October 23, 2010
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