Scott Fujita felt the fans' pain while watching the broadcast of the Browns' loss Sunday in Jacksonville.
View full sizeScott Fujita was having an All-Pro season before injuring his knee against the Jets. Watching Sunday's loss from his home, Fujita was as mystified by the outcome as most fans.BEREA, Ohio -- From his residence in Northeast Ohio, injured linebacker Scott Fujita felt the fans' pain while watching the broadcast of Sunday's 24-20 loss in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Browns fell to 3-7 despite a turnover differential of plus-5. The Jaguars coughed up the ball six times.
"I've never seen a game like that, I've never heard of a game like that," Fujita said. "Defensively, the guys made a lot of big plays. You have to give a lot of credit to the secondary for coming up with a swagger. It was impressive. I was proud of all of those guys."
Fujita injured a left-knee ligament early in the Browns' 26-20 overtime loss to the Jets on Nov. 14. He is wearing a brace.
"It was a tough game to watch -- really, the last two weeks were," he said. "I would have loved to be out there, but right now the best thing I can do is stay in the training room and be back as soon as possible."
There is no target date for Fujita's return, but he did say he was optimistic about getting back on the field by the end of the season. Fujita was in the midst of a Pro Bowl-caliber year.
"I would like to say [the target] is next week, but I still have a brace and I'm hobbling around," he said. "It's tough to say with these injuries. I've always felt like I'm a fast healer, and I'm hoping for the best."
Can't win for losing: The Browns continue to find creative ways to lose. One of the turnovers against the Jaguars was a fumble forced and returned for a touchdown by safety Abe Elam. The other five turnovers led to a total of three points. In those five possessions, the Browns managed zero passing yards, zero first downs and minus-9 net yards.
Eric Mangini, asked is he could imagine having a plus-five differential and losing, said: "No -- but we lived it."
The Browns have lost four games in which they led in the fourth quarter. That does not include the Jets, whom they tied late in regulation.
"When you don't make those big plays at those critical moments in the game, that's what prevents you from winning," Fujita said. "It's disappointing. This team has shown a lot of progress week in and week out. I think there's a lot of things to be proud of, it's just that the margin for error is so small in this league."
Fullback Lawrence Vickers, asked if the Browns have the talent to close, said: "Absolutely."
The Browns thought they had turned a corner with impressive victories against New Orleans and New England, only to be tripped up by the Jets and Jaguars.
"I think the one thing is really understanding how to win consistently, and being able to play the same way throughout the course of four quarters," Mangini said.
Mangini immediately followed that comment with a tweak of the defense's performance Sunday. Yes, the defense -- with some assistance from the Jaguars -- was responsible for getting the turnovers. From Mangini's perspective, though, late breakdowns trumped the ball-hawking proficiency.
The Jaguars scored two fourth-quarter TDs.
"When you come out on the final two drives and give up two touchdowns, you don't come away feeling like it was a really great defensive effort," Mangini said.
Mangini singled out the screen pass that Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew turned into a 75-yard gain to the Cleveland 1 with two minutes left. Two plays later, Jones-Drew scored as the Jaguars took a 24-20 lead.
Jones caught the pass on the right side and worked his way left.
"A screen to Maurice Jones-Drew -- he cuts it back, that's what he does," Mangini said. "We had three guys with a chance to make the tackle. One guy tried to strip it because he thought the other guy had him posted up. [Jones-Drew] has a low center of gravity. That's who he is, that's how he runs. We chose wrong and it went a long way."
The defense would have been helped, especially late in the game, if the offense would have held the ball longer on most of its possessions. The post-turnover possessions, as the minus-net yards indicate, were particularly troubling.
Mangini was asked if the play-calling was too conservative after the turnovers.
"I know exactly what you're saying," he said. "I really believed that we were going to be able to turn the corner in the running game. I know that [offensive coordinator] Brian [Daboll] believed that, and the offensive players believed that. It felt like we had some good answers there. We didn't execute very well and our answers weren't as good as we thought they were. That's the frustrating part of it."
The Browns rushed 26 times for 88 yards.
"I don't think they did anything we didn't expect," Vickers said, "they just executed better than we did."
Tight end Evan Moore tipped his helmet to the Jaguars' four-man front.
"They came at us similar to the way Atlanta did (a 20-10 loss on Oct. 10), doing a lot of stuff up front in the run game," Moore said. "They made it kind of confusing for us, and we're a run-first offense. Therefore, it kind of shook us up a little bit."
Injury updates: Mangini said of special teamer Blake Costanzo, who suffered a groin injury Sunday: "It doesn't look great."
Mangini said defensive back Mike Adams (abdomen) and all-purpose Josh Cribbs (toes) are "making some progress."
Cornerback Eric Wright, who injured his left knee when Ahtyba Rubin fell on him in the first quarter, walked into the locker room with one crutch and exited with the crutch over his shoulder.
"I just banged my knee up a little bit," he said.
Mangini said he will know more on Wright's status Wednesday.