Redeem team? Browns gung-ho

Cleveland’s players were embarrassed by the Giants in the preseason.

BEREA (AP) — The last time they played on a Monday night, the Cleveland Browns wore hideous brown pants unlikely to ever be seen again.

The fashion faux pas was hardly the most humiliating thing that happened.

The New York Giants made the Browns look silly on national TV.

“They embarrassed us,” Cleveland linebacker Andra Davis said Monday. “So that’s going to give us a little extra fire.”

Back on Aug. 18, the defending Super Bowl champions scored 30 unanswered points in the first half — 16 in a span of 76 seconds — against the Browns in a preseason game. Cleveland (1-3) lost quarterback Derek Anderson to a concussion and four other starters to injuries that night and haven’t been the same team since.

Now coming off their bye week and as healthy as they’ve been in a month, the Browns face a daunting Monday night rematch with the Giants, who improved to 4-0 Sunday with a 44-6 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Davis grimaced as he recalled Cleveland’s prime-time debut dud in 2008.

“Everything they did, they did well and everything we did, we did wrong,” he said. “It gave the world a false sense of what we know we can do. This is a good opportunity to show the world that we’re definitely way better than what we put out there in preseason.”

The Browns, whose lone win came against Cincinnati Sept. 28, used last week to heal physically and soothe some mental bruises they’ve already absorbed during a rough first four games of the season. Coach Romeo Crennel dismissed his players last Thursday, giving them a three-day break from football for the first time since they opened training camp in July.

Crennel expects to have linebacker Willie McGinest (groin), right tackle Ryan Tucker (hip surgery) and wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth (quadriceps) back for the Giants. McGinest has missed the past two games and Stallworth has yet to play in the regular season for the Browns, who signed him to a seven-year, $35 million free agent contract.

Kick return specialist Joshua Cribbs is also closer to 100 percent. The Pro Bowler, who has been slow to recover from a high ankle sprain sustained while returning a kickoff in the exhibition loss to the Giants, said the lopsided loss can be a motivator this time around.

“We took that to heart,” Cribbs said. “They embarrassed us, that will add an extra chip on our shoulder. We want that win most of all. We’re looking for some payback.”

It would be almost impossible for the Browns to play any worse than they did during their second preseason game. They rallied and only lost 37-34, a final that only looked respectable on the scoreboard. When New York’s starters and Cleveland’s starters were on the field, it was a colossal mismatch made more dramatic because of the Browns’ self-destructive play.

They were penalized for 98 yards in the first quarter alone, but still managed to take a 3-0 lead on Phil Dawson’s 56-yard field goal.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Browns trailed 30-3.

Cleveland gave up two first-quarter touchdown passes to quarterback Eli Manning. Then the Browns came completely unglued as the Giants blocked a punt out of the end zone for a safety, Hixon returned the ensuing free kick 82 yards for a TD and New York safety James Butler scooped up a botched handoff to Jamal Lewis and went 95 yards for a score.