After battling the flu, Browns rookie Alex Mack is sick of losing

By STEVE DOERSCHUK

BEREA — Alex Mack said he was in a bad mood.

That’s probably a good thing for the Cleveland Browns.

It was a sign one of the key players in the team’s future is disgusted with the present and wants to do something about it.

It was a sign that the team’s latest first-round draft pick wants to live up to his contract.

Mack said Thursday he needs to play substantially better at Chicago than he did in Sunday’s 31-3 loss to Green Bay.

“Last week, I didn’t get all the practice I really wanted,” he said. “It hurt me.”

It’s not that he wanted to be home, sick as a dog, but he missed two days with a flu bug that ripped through the team.

“It’s not an excuse,” Mack said. “It’s just ... I could have done better. Practice isn’t the most fun thing o do, but it’s pretty important.”

Mack thought his act was coming together when the Browns went toe to toe with the Bengals on Oct. 4 before falling, 23-20, in overtime.

In subsequent games against the Bills, Steelers and Packers, he has learned a rookie doesn’t get progressively better just because he was named college’s Center of the Decade by Sporting News magazine.

He’s trying not to get bogged down in the team’s struggles and where they might lead.

“The big picture is just too much,” he said. “We’ve got the Bears coming up.”

If the Browns win Sunday at Chicago, they will be 2-6. When Mack helped the California Golden Bears beat Oregon last November, they were 6-2.

Given his position, the nether world of the trenches, how much he is helping — or will help — the Browns is a bit subjective.

He can’t rack up yards like Minnesota Percy Harvin or fire up a crowd with an open-field hit like Cincinnati’s Rey Maualuga to name two rookies drafted shortly after he was.

Mack was drafted high enough, No. 21 overall, to know he’s under the microscope.

“There’s that, for sure,” Mack said. “I was brought here to help the team, and I’m trying hard to do that.

“When we don’t win games, you ask, was it my fault? I need to play better.”

The 6-foot-4, 311-pound Mack has the size, smarts, strength and athleticism to become an elite center. He must prove he can translate that repertoire into NFL game speed and that he’s tough enough to survive combat in the brutal NFL trenches.

The Browns’ record is brutal in its own way.

“I didn’t have a great game, and the team did poorly Sunday,” Mack said. “You just don’t feel good about yourself.”

Yet he has never stopped thinking this isn’t a half bad way to make a living.

“I’m getting paid to do what I love,” he said. “I like winning, though. It’s tough when you’re not successful.”