Included below are select quotes from interviews with the following Browns players during today's media availability:
- RB Isaiah Crowell
- DL Carl Nassib
- WR Terrelle Pryor Sr.
RB Isaiah Crowell:
On his keys to success, given the Browns are first in rushing offense:
"Really, I just feel it is all the men on the field doing their jobs. I feel like it is the offensive line, the receivers blocking downfield, the fullback and the running backs just hitting in the hole and putting the ball in the right place. I feel like it is everybody just doing their job."
On looking quicker and more explosive:
"I know I have trimmed down a little bit. I lost about seven to eight pounds. I can say I'm more comfortable because I have been in, but I feel like really it is more opportunities. I feel like I could have been doing this if I had opportunities like I'm having now."
On Head Coach Hue Jackson's comments during training camp that the Browns would lead the league in rushing and if he remembers those comments:
"Yes, he did say that. Yes, I did believe him because I knew we had the guys in the room to do so and I know he trusted us. I know the coaches and the staff are just going to put together a good gameplan for us so that we can do so."
On his ability to make defenders miss:
"I feel like just the rhythm. I feel like I'm in a good rhythm in the game and I feel like that's where it comes from. I don't feel like it is anything different that I'm doing. I really don't know."
*On his individual goals for the year, given his production and Jackson's comments: *
"I said I wanted 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns, but like Hue said, 'Why not more?' So I'm with him."
DL Carl Nassib:
On how he is feeling:
"I feel good, feel rested. I am very excited to get out there this weekend and help my team."
On challenges playing with a club or cast on a hand:
"It is a little challenging, but I think I will handle it pretty well."
On if it has been frustrating not being able to play the past few weeks:
"Yeah, it was frustrating, but I just took it as try to make a positive out of the situation, just get my body right and study as much as I could."
On if he has a different perspective on how the Browns defense is performing, given his time off the field:
"No, the film tells its own story. We are doing some good things and we are going to continue to improve every week."
On if he can pick up where he left off:
"Yeah, I am just going to work hard to get better every day."
On what he can improve:
"There are definitely some things that I need to improve on. Getting experience in the game is definitely one of them. I'm just going to try my best to be the best that I can."
On Patriots RB LeGarrette Blount:
"He runs hard, and they do a good job blocking. It is going to pose a good challenge, and we are excited for it."
On having the opportunity to play against Patriots QB Tom Brady:
"Yeah, I am very excited to compete against the whole Patriots offense and everybody out there. Yup."
On advice Browns veterans have offered about playing against Brady and the Patriots offense:
"Yeah, we are just going to go out and do our jobs as fast and as precise as we can every single play."
WR Terrelle Pryor Sr.:
On challenges playing against the Patriots defense:
"I just think they play football the right way. I have a lot of respect for (Patriots Head Coach) Coach (Bill) Belichick because I just think he has a brilliant mind and he has a proven track record. That goes without saying. You know he is going to have a gameplan every week because he is a competitor, and I know he wants to win. Those guys play the right way, though."
On the confidence and high morale in the Browns locker room despite being underdogs against the Patriots:
"Absolutely, any given Sunday. We have to come to play, and the best team that plays the best on Sunday is going to win and whoever protects the ball. We will see on Sunday. We prepared well today and yesterday, and like I said before, we believe when we go into every game that we have a chance to win as long as we can take care of the ball and finish. Those are the things that we have been having trouble with. I have 100 percent faith and belief in the team, and I'm sure everybody feels the same way."
On how he will manage to perform well when the Patriots defense may be focused on stopping him:
"We have the No. 1 running game so I would assume he [Coach Belichick] would try to take that away. That is what we do real well. Like I said, any other time, I don't really worry about what they do. It is all about on Sunday, when we get there, things tighten up on another man so it is all about going against the guy that is on me and beating him."
On QB Cody Kessler's progression:
"He is doing a great job. I just think it is tough coming in when we are trying to accomplish so much. We are trying to accomplish getting Cleveland back on the map. We are trying to compete with these teams, and he is doing a great job under the circumstances. A lot of people are counting us out, and we just keep battling back. He is leading us, and that is all you can ask for from a quarterback standpoint. He has guys that will lead also in the huddle while he is in there with us as well. Just guys doing their job, and he does his job.
On Kessler's accuracy and how that helps the WR corps:
"We deal with a lot of stuff in terms of teams guarding me. I get double-covered a lot, and it is tough for him to get me the ball for the most part. A lot of guys will roll up on me, and then they have safeties over the top and you have a corner sitting on every route underneath so it is tough. It is tough to do. Even the pick that he threw last week versus Washington, I had my hands on it so that is accurate enough for me to make the catch so I don't want to put that on him. That is on me. I need to bail him out. I need to make that play because I can make that play. I kind of let him down there, and that bothered me this whole week because he had faith to throw me the ball. Whether it was behind or not, I have to make that play when I touch it. I have total faith in him and I'm just continuing to try and work my butt off so he keeps having faith in me. That is what it is about, building chemistry and standing up for each other. We are definitely looking forward to Sunday. I'm excited. I can't wait."
On how RB Isaiah Crowell has impressed him the most so far this season:
"The thing about backs, he has become one of the backs I love watching, even though he is my teammate because just playing, even playing quarterback and handing the ball off to some of these running backs, a lot of guys miss. They are not patient enough to see that little tiny hole. There is a little, little hole, a little gap that a normal person can't see or even a lot of NFL running backs can't see. The way he plays and the way he is coached from (Head) Coach (Hue) Jackson, I just think he is an excellent runner, excellent vision. Where he is at right now, I believe he is one of the best backs, if not the best right now, running it. I truly believe that because how hard he runs and he is so aggressive and just a smart football player. He picks up the blitzes and I can't say enough good things about Crow."
