On top of Mike Pettine's Monday press conference, Browns quarterback Josh McCown and Joel Bitonio held court with reporters in the locker room.

Here's the news to know heading into Tuesday's day off.

1) More injuries beyond McCown's

On top of McCown's shoulder injury, which has rendered Cleveland's starting quarterback "day to day," the Browns have a handful of other injuries that could impact Sunday's game against Arizona.

Safety Jordan Poyer, who has filled in for the injured Tashaun Gipson, will miss some time with an injured shoulder, Pettine said.

Gipson is making progress back from an injured ankle, which has sidelined him for the past three games, and could return against the Cardinals. If he can't, the Browns will turn to either rookie Ibraheim Campbell or nickel back K'Waun Williams, who has cross-trained at the position.

Wide receiver Andrew Hawkins is in the NFL's concussion protocol. Defensive back Joe Haden, who has missed the past two games because of a concussion, remains in the protocol but is getting better, Pettine said.

Pettine said he was optimistic about linebacker Craig Robertson (ankle), who has missed the past four games.

2) Pettine calls on team to respond to adversity

At 2-5, the Browns aren't where they envisioned they'd be seven games into the season.

One day after a particularly tough loss at St. Louis, Pettine implored the players to respond to the adversity they face as they eye a schedule that features a game against one of the NFC's best teams (Arizona) followed by four consecutive games against AFC North foes.

"It is easy to exist in this profession when things are going well. When things aren't, you truly find out who you are," Pettine said. "Who is mentally tough? Who cares about this team? Who is willing to step up? Continuing to do what we have done would be foolish because it has gotten us these results so far. We are not going to do anything radically different, but it has to be incremental. The challenge to each man in the room, coaches and players, was what am I going to do different? What am I going to do extra? Is it in the weight room? Is it in the meeting room? Is it on the practice field?"

Pettine said the review of the film wasn't easy to digest but included plenty of teaching points.

"A lot of it starts with the individual. We always preach that as individuals get better, the team gets better," Pettine said. "I think if everybody accepts that challenge of being introspective – This is for me. This is for the coaches. This isn't just for the players. It is on an individual level first. When the coaches look at their particular side of the ball, 'What are we doing well? What are we not doing well? Where do we need to improve?' Those are things that will get looked at.

"Each week we are tasked with that challenge of who are the best 11 we can put out there to maximize our chances for a successful play."

3) 'Perfect storm' hurts Browns offense

Pettine's reasoning for the Browns' lowest scoring output of the season, not including the four turnovers and 11 penalties, was fairly simple.

"We played into their hands," Pettine said.

The Browns played into one of the NFL's best defensive line's hands by struggling on first down and playing behind the sticks on obvious passing downs. That allowed the Rams to "pin their ears back and go," as they barraged the Browns offensive line and subsequently delivered a number of hard hits on McCown.

"I thought on the 50-50 downs, when it was play-pass, when it was first down or second and manageable, your protection is better because they are having to play the run first and then convert," Pettine said. "When it is third-and-20 or second-and-16, or you are down 17-6 or 24-6 late when you have to throw it – that is when the defense knows you are one-dimensional. That is the combination of circumstances we wanted to avoid playing in a dome."

Bitonio said it was "just one of those days where everybody had a mistake or two piled up" on the offensive line that resulted in four pre-snap penalties and a number of holding calls that derailed the Browns' offensive possessions.

"I think all of us could probably say, on the O-line, that we had one or two that we'd want back that was pretty ugly for us," Bitonio said. "It was kind of a perfect storm in that sense."

4) Why the carries went to who when they did

Pettine said Isaiah Crowell, who ran for 11 yards on his first two carries and minus-2 on his next six, took a shot to the ribs early in Sunday's game.

One week after Cleveland's running backs averaged 10 carries apiece, Crowell finished with eight carries for 9 yards, Duke Johnson Jr. had six for 17 and Robert Turbin had five for 30.

All five of Turbin's carries, including a team-high 22-yarder, came in the third quarter. A 10-yard Turbin carry came back because of a holding penalty.

"We'll always at halftime always hit the reset button on where we are from a plan standpoint and who needs to get more involved," Pettine said.

5) McCown explains fumbles

McCown's two fumbles Sunday were different in appearance but produced the same frustrating result.

His first came in the first quarter on a hit from William Hayes and set up a St. Louis field goal. His second came on the play that knocked him out of the game as he attempted a throw.

McCown on Monday lamented the first one far more than the second after analyzing the film.

"It was just traffic and you just have to do the best job you can … (I) looked back at the tape and even at the time felt like I had two hands on the ball," McCown said. "That's the main thing is you don't want to have one hand on the ball so as best you can, have two hands on the ball. I couldn't really tell from the tape angle, but I felt like yesterday I did. Sometimes those things happen. If you feel it closing, you just go on down (and make) the best of a bad situation."