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Rookie RBs Cromwell, West step up for Browns
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Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell (34) dives past Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Mike Mitchell (23) for a touchdown in the third quarter of the NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014 in Pittsburgh.
RBs Cromwell, West step up in Tate’s absence
Associated Press
BEREA
Thrown into their first NFL game — in Pittsburgh, against the vaunted Steelers — rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell didn’t shown any nervousness or fear.
They performed like seasoned veterans for the Browns.
They need to do it again.
With starting running back Ben Tate out with a sprained knee, West and Crowell will play Sunday as the Browns (0-1) host New Orleans. After Tate got hurt in the first half last week in Pittsburgh, West rushed for 100 yards — 91 in the second half — and Crowell scored two touchdowns as the Browns rallied from a 24-point deficit before losing 30-27.
Browns coach Mike Pettine was pleased with how his rookie runners fared against the Steelers.
“It was encouraging,” Pettine said before practice Wednesday. “But they need to be able to take the next step, and this is another challenge for them, to go against this type of defense and it’s nothing that either one of those guys have seen before. It will be a good test for them.”
West, a third-round pick from Towson, and Crowell, an undrafted free agent whose college career began at Georgia before he transferred to Alabama State, passed their first test with relative ease. They weren’t intimidated and Pettine credited running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery with having the youngsters ready.
Pettine did not provide any details on Tate’s injury, only confirming he will sit this week. However, there’s a chance Tate could be out for an extended period, which would push West and Crowell up the depth chart.
If their debuts were any indication, the Browns might not miss Tate.
West, a 5-foot-10, 225-pounder, averaged 6.3 yards on 16 carries and became the first Cleveland back in 27 years to rush for 100 yards in his first pro game. Crowell, the SEC’s freshman of the year before legal problems derailed his career, scored a 3-yard TD on his first carry and on a 15-yarder.
The backs have comparable running styles. Neither has breakaway speed, but while West admits he wants to score every time he touches the ball, Crowell is more patient and takes what defenses give him.
“He’s a slasher,” Pettine said of the 5-foot-11, 225-pounder. “He can put his foot in the ground and cut. He’s decisive. He’s a guy that, if you polled DBs and said, ‘Hey, do you want to make a list of guys that you want to tackle?’ I don’t think he makes that list.”
“Terrance is more of a ‘can make you miss’ guy. I don’t know if Crowell wants to make you miss.”
Gordon denies drug problem
Browns Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon called his yearlong NFL suspension the “worst experience I had in my life” but vowed to come back a better person once he’s allowed to play again.
Gordon, who hasn’t spoken to local media members since April, did an extensive interview with ondecker.com in which he claims he’s not addicted to drugs and believes his case is affecting the possibility the NFL will change its drug policy.
During the interview, Gordon maintains he failed a drug test for marijuana because he was exposed to secondhand smoke. Before his positive test, Gordon said he was clean and had passed 70 tests.
He denied having a drug problem.
“Definitely not,” he said. “In this case I was exposed to it from secondhand and prior to I’ve been drug free and been staying that way. This incident has been causing a backlash of negative attention and negative media of me being an addict or junkie or using drugs terribly too much, which is definitely not the case. I’d definitely like to have that out in the open and be clear with that for sure.”