Browns’ Wright suffers through bad year

Associated Press

BEREA

It’s gotten so bad, he’s being called Eric Wrong.

Browns cornerback Eric Wright is the first to admit he’s not having nearly the season he hoped. Burned for several big plays and touchdowns, including a winning TD in overtime last week against the New York Jets, Wright has become a target for some Cleveland fans.

They want him benched — or worse.

Wright’s under attack, but he’s not running.

“I have a responsibility to this team to be a certain type of player, and I’ve let my team down time and time again,” he said Wednesday. “Obviously, I have to play better.”

Late in overtime Sunday, Wright got beat on an inside slant by Santonio Holmes, who took the short pass, stepped away from Wright’s lame tackling attempt and darted past two other Browns for a 37-yard score, giving the Jets their second straight OT win.

It was the latest gaffe in a season of errors for Wright, a 2007 second-round pick who has never been lacking for confidence but seems to be playing scared. Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin fried Wright for three TDs, and he was responsible for two against Pittsburgh.

The critics have been lining up for weeks. Their legions have grown.

On Wednesday, Wright found himself surrounded in the middle of Cleveland’s locker room answering questions about his struggles and defending his reputation. As a few of his teammates walked over to survey the media mob, Wright, backed up against a pillar, never ducked a single probe.

He accepted blame. The only thing Wright disputed was that his performance has been consistently poor.

“I don’t feel like it’s necessarily been a streak,” he said. “The Baltimore game opened the floodgates for us having this type of discussion. That’s the worst game I’ve ever played in my career. It’s more of me not doing what I’m supposed to do mentally than physically. But I feel throughout the nine games, I’ve had more better games than bad games.

“But obviously when you have certain big plays, which you will have playing cornerback, it’s going to be looked at in a different way.”

It hasn’t all been Wright’s fault.

On a few of the TDs, it appeared he was looking for help that never arrived. Also, there have been communication breakdowns in a secondary breaking in rookie safety T.J. Ward.

Wright isn’t pointing fingers.

“Certain plays just happen,” he said. “You don’t want them to happen, but they do. There have been a number of times where I just didn’t do what I’m supposed to do. There have been other times where things didn’t pan out the way I expected it to happen. Obviously, it’s a team game … and sometimes things land on you that are really not your fault.”