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Mutiny in the Locker Room?


JoeSixPat

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It seems like you guys may have missed this in the Akron Beacon but it looks like NBC's ProfootballTalk has picked up on the rally that at least a portion of the Browns locker room had in support of Lewis yesterday, timed exactly when the media was asking Lewis about his comments about Mangini, and Mangini's comments that not all in the locker room are in agreement with Lewis (i.e. there's division in the locker room).

 

The national attention may make it difficult for Mangini to just hope this incident "goes away" and sends a loud message to others that they can speak out like Lewis without fear of retribution... and a loud message to Lerner that this might not be the best long-term environment to build a winning organization.

 

Browns rally around Jamal Lewis

Posted by Mike Florio on November 14, 2009 9:10 AM ET

On Thursday, Browns running back Jamal Lewis made known his displeasure regarding the extent to which coach Eric Mangini has overworked the team this year. In the wake of Lewis' comments, we were told that most if not all of the other players agree with him.

 

With no other Cleveland player going on the record to confirm or dispute Lewis' remarks, it might have been hard to tell whether they indeed support him.

 

Until Friday, when according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal several teammates began chanting in the locker room, "J-Lew! J-Lew!"

 

''I got support,'' Lewis said, per Ridenour. "Does this look like a divided locker room to y'all? Huh, does it? No.''

 

(That said, one of the guys who led the cheers later tried to claim that the outburst was unrelated to Lewis' remarks. And to that we say, "Child please.")

 

Lewis' assertion that the locker room isn't divided conflicts with an implicit message from the Friday remarks of coach Eric Mangini, who while defending his practice habits and workload (he says that the team practices for only two hours, not three) commented on the reality that it's impossible to keep all players happy.

 

"You go down in the locker room 50 percent of the guys want to do it that way, 50 percent want to do it the other way," Mangini said. "You change it and half the group is happy and half the group is not happy. It's the same thing with itineraries, when you have 53 guys, consensus isn't always easy to come by. I feel good about the way that we practice. I feel good about the time that we practice. The only time that practices are extended is if we don't execute something the right way. Then we are going to repeat that play and we are going to do it again because it's important that we get it right."

 

Mangini also said that he meets with team captains every Thursday. When asked whether the other captains agreed with Lewis' message at the most recent Thursday meeting, Mangini said, "No, the meeting was good."

 

At the same time, Mangini does not seem to be inclined to take action against Lewis, even though Mangini apparently has convinced himself that Lewis' views are not widespread in the locker room.

 

In our view, Mangini knows he's walking a fine line here. Though he needs to defend the manner in which he runs practices, he also needs to avoid a full-blown mutiny. As a result, if meaningful changes aren't quietly made behind the scenes, the decision not to come down on Lewis for engaging in conduct clearly detrimental to the notion of "team" that Mangini has been trying to establish means that Lewis and possibly others will be empowered to pop off in the future.

 

Still, it appears that Mangini managed to calm Lewis down during and after the Thursday captains meeting. Indeed, Lewis said Friday that his comments were "kinda blown out of proportion," and that "we settled things in house."

 

A win Monday night against the Ravens would go a long way toward consummating that settlement.

 

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Pretty common knowledge...doesnt take but a look to figure it out...and yeah mangini shuts himself off to everyone and everything around him...he thinks he is living in a perfect dream and sees everything through innocent little rose colored glasses...hehehehe

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I suggest you seek professional help in your obsession with Mangini. Let it go.

 

 

Seriously Dude, It's a bit troublesome..Did EM smack you around when you where kids or something?

Did he steal you're Breezy?

 

It's one of the most bizzare things I've witnessed

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QUOTE (DieHardBrownsFan @ Nov 14 2009, 04:56 PM)

"I suggest you seek professional help in your obsession with Mangini. Let it go."

 

Seriously Dude, It's a bit troublesome..Did EM smack you around when you where kids or something?

Did he steal you're Breezy?

 

It's one of the most bizzare things I've witnessed

 

 

I agree with you. A hit to the head WOULD explain DieHardBrownsFan's bizarre constant defense of Mangini in light of so many facts showing that team is going backwards.

 

Some day, when there's a real coach and credible team, folks around here will be thanking fans like PeterBell who made their displeasure with the direction of the team known.

 

:)

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I agree with you. A hit to the head WOULD explain DieHardBrownsFan's bizarre constant defense of Mangini in light of so many facts showing that team is going backwards.

 

Some day, when there's a real coach and credible team, folks around here will be thanking fans like PeterBell who made their displeasure with the direction of the team known.

 

:)

 

We were 4-12 last year, dismantled a terrible team to rebuild for more consistent success. You cant get much worse than 4-12.

We had all those great players last year that you keep crying that mangini traded away this year, guess what we werent successful.

Will more than likely end up with the same record this year without them guys, go into the draft with 11 picks and a plan and direction for success thanks to Mangini.

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I agree with you. A hit to the head WOULD explain DieHardBrownsFan's bizarre constant defense of Mangini in light of so many facts showing that team is going backwards.

 

Some day, when there's a real coach and credible team, folks around here will be thanking fans like PeterBell who made their displeasure with the direction of the team known.

 

:)

 

You're one wack ass Pat's fan..Dude you joined this board right when Mangini got the job...WOW

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I agree with you. A hit to the head WOULD explain DieHardBrownsFan's bizarre constant defense of Mangini in light of so many facts showing that team is going backwards.

 

Some day, when there's a real coach and credible team, folks around here will be thanking fans like PeterBell who made their displeasure with the direction of the team known.

 

:)

 

I believe he was refering to you Sixpat.

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Lewis will be gone next season and others who aren't with the program will find themselves working for WalMart if they haven't saved any money. When you can't execute the simple fundamentals you need more practice. If they start tackling and blocking better and catching better practices might become easier.

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Way to quote PFT....what a credible news gathering service :rolleyes:

 

Our schools need to do a better job of reading comprehension. :rolleyes:

 

If you read it you know the source was of course the Akron Beacon.

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/70071987.html

 

Questioning PFTs credibility in "news gathering" might be a valid point but in this case they were in fact able to cut and paste the link - and accurately read - what Marla Ridenour of the Beacon wrote.

 

 

 

 

 

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Who knows what goes on behind closed doors. Just because Mangini doesn't reprimand Lewis in front of a reporter doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

 

The press make me sick. They love seeing teams and people in turmoil cause it gives them something good to write about.

 

I am sick and tiered of all this overreacting going on around the browns. We had to blow up the team this year! What did people expect? We have 11 draft picks, we have a number of key players that are very young, the last regime left our team pretty empty on the talent scale, it is going to take time to build a winner! Chill out and give this team some time!

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Our schools need to do a better job of reading comprehension. :rolleyes:

 

If you read it you know the source was of course the Akron Beacon.

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/70071987.html

 

Questioning PFTs credibility in "news gathering" might be a valid point but in this case they were in fact able to cut and paste the link - and accurately read - what Marla Ridenour of the Beacon wrote.

 

I don't read PFT because Mike Florio may be the only person on the planet more blatantly against unbiased reporting than you. He is remarkably biased in everything he posts on that site and quite frankly the language they allow is objectionable.

 

 

 

 

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I'm going to try to be as simplistic as possible with this post.

 

1) Negativity in the media surrounded the hiring of Mangini in January. It came from the New York media mainly, and then the Cleveland media followed the same path.

 

2) This media campaign against Mangini is taking anything they can remotely gather and running with it. The Shaun Rogers snub, the Davis injury, the supposed water bottle fine, the Edwards trade, and now the J-Lew comments. All of it has been turned on Eric Mangini right from the get go.

 

3) This team has talent to win on the defensive side of the ball. What they lack to become a better than average defense is a playmaking safety and a dynamic inside linebacker. Rob Ryan does not need another pass rusher like many believe because he is creative with his pass rush schemes.

 

4) This team does not have talent to win on the offensive side of the ball. The o-line is adequate, but the Browns have to add a young set of legs with some speed at RB and add a stud receiver before they can get better. This also will allow them to better assess Quinn. Right now the deck is stacked against our QB, no matter who he is.

 

5) In my opinion, Mangini has made two mistakes since taking over in January. #1 is hiring Brian Daboll. He is not yet ready for primetime. #2 was benching Quinn early in the season. That did nothing but shake what confidence Quinn had.

 

6) I totally tune out anything in the national media that comes out about Mangini. They don't really know the whole story and use "sources" to mold and shape their perspective into something negative about Mangini. It's actually disgusting to watch the fans buy into everything negative that's been said.

 

7) Tony Grossi is a pissed-off, little whiney hack who has picked up where the NY media left off in its smear campaign against Mangini. This is a guy who won't write anything positive about a coach when he can't get any information from him. He slammed the hell out of Belichick when BB was calling the shots here, and all that did was make Cleveland fans dislike the best coach here since Paul Brown. Granted, I was pissed at him, too, when he cut Bernie. But a year later (his fourth by the way) BB had his FIRST winning season and a solid, disciplined playoff football team.

 

8) The fact that Mangini has established discipline and accountability is being lost on many fans because of the offense's performance week after week. There's no question that this is being forgotten about because of the frustration caused at the ineptness of the offense. Would 27-21 losses every week be just as frustrating as 27-6? I highly doubt it. That ineptitude is masking every positive thing that occurs.

 

9) I don't know what to make of the Kokinis situation yet. But I sure as hell am not going to be influenced by anything that's written or talked about in the media. I'll wait to pass judgment when the whole story is accurately told. I'm not into innuendos or journalists throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

 

10) I really hope that Eric Mangini gets a fair shot here. If you look through all the bullsh*t surrounding him right now, you should see a guy dedicated to his craft who cares about instilling the long-term values that breed winning. No doubt it's ugly right now and people find it real easy to pile on, but I'm with him.

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