Hue Jackson has preached all summer long that the Browns have to live tackle and practice like they're playing. With that in mind, he'll play the starters in the 4th preseason game vs. the Bears. Watch video
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- All summer long, coach Hue Jackson's mantra has been: to play good football you have to practice it.
In keeping with that theme, he'll depart from the norm and play his starters Thursday in the fourth preseason game against the Bears at FirstEnergy Stadium.
"We're going to play our guys,'' Jackson said. "I feel comfortable that we need to play our starters on both sides of the ball. Now, how much they play, that is yet to be determined by me, but we're going to play them because we need to play. We need to get better as a football team as we continue to move forward."
But Jackson isn't playing his starters to avoid going winless. He's 0-3 heading into the game, and isn't concerned about going 0-4.
"You can check my last record in preseason,'' he said. "I think I was 0-4 at Oakland. I like to win. I will be the first to tell you that. I didn't think I was going to be 0-4 then either. I don't like being 0-4. If this was going on my tombstone, I would be concerned about it. It's not. Nobody is going to ask me about the preseason games. They're going to ask to me about the regular season.
"Even though I like to win at everything that I do, I do understand that there is a process that we are in right now. Now next week, you ask me that, it might be a different story. I might be up here throwing things. What's important is that we keep evaluating our team so that we can ensure that we have the best team here as we move into the season."
The Browns needs to play their starters for a lot of reasons, including the fact that some of them, including receiver Corey Coleman (hamstring) and cornerback Joe Haden (ankle), played in their first preseason game on Friday night against the Bucs.
What's more, the Browns have been mixing and matching so much on defense, they need to play their new starting rotation some together before the opener Sept. 11 in Philadelphia. In addition, they cut starting outside linebacker Paul Kruger on Monday and have inserted Emmanuel Ogbah in his spot.
"Obviously, since we made several changes on defense, we want to keep on looking,'' he said. "I feel pretty good about where we are offensively. I just think we need to fine tune some things and get better at some things. Obviously, there was a starter that was removed from our defensive football team. I need to make sure that we're doing the things that we need to do to be successful over there on defense."
The Browns have also been splitting time between rookie Derrick Kindred and Joyer Poyer at free safety.
"I feel very good about all three of those guys (Kindred, Poyer and Ibraheim Campbell),'' Jackson said. "I don't think it really matters who walks out there first. I know quote-unquote people want to know who the starter is, but I think as much nickel as we see - I'm talking about three wide receivers in the National Football League, two tight ends, all that - all of those guys can play at any time. What is really important is that we are beginning to feel comfortable with three guys that can go in there and play. We will determine who the starters are here pretty soon."
Cam Erving also needs more live reps at center to work on his timing and his shotgun snapping.
So regardless of what the Bears do, the Browns starters will be out in full force Thursday night, if only for a brief time.