BEREA (92.3 The Fan) – Quarterback Jason Campbell has come full circle – sort of.
Ironically, the team that ended Campbell’s 2011 season in Oakland, now turns to him to lead them to playoffs.
“I have not really thought about it that way,” Campbell said. “We are 4-5 we are sitting here in a position to put ourselves in a good spot as we get ready to go down the home stretch and my mindset is just do whatever it takes to help us win games.”
Campbell has split the 2 games that he’s started and completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 561 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s not thrown a pick in 75 attempts this season and has a quarterback rating of 106.6.
“Jason has obviously played awfully well in both football games he has played,” offensive coordinator Norv Turner said. “He knows how hard it is to win in this league and he knows every week that you can’t take anything for granted. I think that’s a good quality to have in your quarterback but it’s a great quarterback to have for the rest of your players to see. It’s a great example for the rest of our team.”
The difference with him under center is noticeable to left tackle Joe Thomas, who rarely offers his two-cents on the play of quarterbacks – even though he’s blocked for 12 different ones since being drafted in 2007 but he praised Campbell Thursday.
“He’s done a real good job,” Thomas said. “I see quick decisions and I see the ball coming out when it should and he understands the blitzes and the protections and where his hots and sights are and I see accurate throws and trusting his receivers. So I’m really impressed when I see those things.”
D MVP – Defensive coordinator Ray Horton named his defensive MVP to date and it might surprise you.
Safety Tashaun Gipson.
“He was a former corner that played limited snaps last year going to a position that requires a ton of smarts and you can never be wrong at the position, and he’s a much better tackler than I ever envisioned,’ Horton said. “He’s got fantastic hands, and he’s tough and he makes very few mistakes. He’s protected some guys that may have been out of position. I use the word ‘unremarkable,’ meaning on a piece of paper when you’re watching practice and grading you don’t remark anything about him because he’s always in the right place doing the right thing.”
Gipson is third on the team with 11 pass break-ups and tied for the lead with a pair of interceptions this season after moving from corner a year ago.
“He has very few mental mistakes and he’s just been a fantastic player,” Horton said. “It’s really for me a comfort because I know he’s going to be in the right place at the right time and do his job well.”
Horton didn’t want to take anything away from cornerback Joe Haden, who he feels is having a Pro Bowl season, either.
“Sometimes when you don’t have big interception numbers it’s because they don’t throw the ball your way,” Horton said of Haden being limited to just 1 interception this season. “Joe has done a fantastic job of being pressured to cover the rarest of athletes in the NFL that can run and job and catch without hitting the guy past 5 yards. So he’s having a fantastic year.”
Passing Fad – Left tackle Joe Thomas raised eyebrows last week when he spoke the unspoken truth – and he reinforced it Thursday – it’s a passing league.
“It’s not about getting points or such and such yards per carry or anything like that, because you just don’t put up a lot of points running the ball anymore,” Thomas said. “Nobody in the NFL wins games by running the ball anymore, it just doesn’t happen. You get ahead by throwing the ball.
“Running is just kind of to give you balance. Obviously we wish we were running it better, more yards per carry and better explosive runs and things like that. But like Norv said, it’s mainly to just kind of set up what you need to do in the passing game to put up the points.”
It’s something that running back Willis McGahee is adjusting to.
“The game changes. You’ve got the little backs coming in and running routes now it’s rare you want to go out and pound it but I think it all comes back in a circle,” Mcgahee said. “Eventually you’re going to need that run game to come back alive. Right now you go with the flow and you adapt to what’s going on.
“It’s not going to be everyday that you pound pound pound. It’s not football right now, it’s more of a passing league. It is what it is.”
McGahee is averaging 2.6 yards per carry and just over 14 carries per game since signing with the Browns on Sept. 19.
Injury Report – DNP: TE MarQueis Gray (hamstring), RB Willis McGahee (knees/rest); LIMITED: OL Jason Pinkston (ankle); FULL: QB Jason Campbell (ribs), LB Paul Kruger (finger), RB Chris Ogbonnaya (ribs), CB Chris Owens (finger)
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