Miscues could drop Little on bench

Associated Press

BEREA

If he’s not careful, Browns wide receiver Greg Little will be posing on the bench.

Browns coach Pat Shurmur said Monday that he’s considering changes to the lineup for his winless team and made it clear that if Little, whose on-field antics have angered some Cleveland fans, doesn’t do a better job of holding onto quarterback Brandon Weeden’s passes that he’ll lose his starting job.

“We can’t play a guy that’s going to drop footballs,” Shurmur said.

Little’s drops — STATS LLC said his 12 last season were second most in the league — are again an issue for the Browns (0-3), who were beaten 24-14 Sunday by the Buffalo Bills to extend their losing streak since last season to nine and who have just a few days to prepare for Thursday night’s game in Baltimore.

Little certainly isn’t the only problem for the Browns, but the second-year wideout is emblematic of Cleveland’s team: young, mistake-prone and inconsistent.

With the Browns trailing 14-7 in the final minute of the first half on Sunday, Little dropped a third-down pass that had the potential to be a huge gain and may have set up a field-goal try. As the ball hit the ground, Shurmur reacted angrily on the sideline as did wide receivers coach Mike Wilson, who jumped in frustration.

Shurmur said Little’s catching issues — he had a potential TD pass in the opener against Philadelphia slip through his hands — have been a constant point of emphasis.

“We’ve been working with him consistently through last year when we got him to the offseason through the preseason and of course each week,” Shurmur said. “When he goes out in the game he has to catch the football. We have all the drills. We have a long list of things we practice and we need to get better results. That’s the reality of it.”

But beyond Little’s case of the dropsies, the Browns have also been counseling him on posing like Olympic track superstar Usain Bolt after making a catch. On both his receptions against the Bills, Little struck Bolt’s signature “lightning” pose, drawing back his arms like an archer and pointing skyward.