On the Browns waiving WR Terrelle Pryor:
"Terrelle was a guy that we held on to largely because of his potential. We viewed that spot as the 53rd roster spot and there was a lot of debate over it. Terrelle certainly has the ability to make the transition to receiver. We were hopeful that we were going to be able to have that time to do it, but that, to me, is viewed as a luxury. Given where we were when we looked at our running back room, given our circumstances and having always been a (RB) Robert Turbin fan, just admiring how he plays and the mentality he takes to the field, that was an opportunity that we felt we couldn't pass up. Understand that he won't be available for upwards of a month but that was something that we were willing to deal with. A lot of this league is about timing. You look at a good example just last night in (Patriots RB) Dion Lewis. Here's a guy that a year ago was less than a year removed from an injury, just physically could not compete, couldn't run up to full speed and took him a year out of the league. That's why the guys that are here that know Dion are thrilled for him, knowing the kind of guy he is, that he's able to get back out there. Will Terrelle Pryor be successful in the NFL at wide out? There's a pretty good chance of that, but just given the timing for us, it just wasn't right."
On if there was concern that RB Robert Turbin would become unavailable:
"To me, the timing of it for us was we knew that there were other teams interested and that being where we were in the claiming order that that was the best. We could have let him potentially clear and then try to recruit him and sign him or let him on his own, but you're competing with 30 other teams essentially for that. We think enough of him that it wasn't something that we were willing to risk, that 'Hey, we have a chance to get him here. Let's get him here."
On what the Browns like about Turbin:
"He's downhill. When you watch him play he is physical. You talk about playing with an attitude, that's the way he is. I had gone against him previously as a coordinator, not often being that he was in Seattle, but watching a lot of cross over tape, talking to people that know him. I know (running backs coach) Wilbert (Montgomery) thought very highly of him coming out of Utah State. When you go down the list of attributes what we're looking for in a running back, and then also just the bonus part of it is the person that we're bringing to the room – nothing but positive opinions on how he is in the locker room, in the meeting room, on the practice field – it was just a move that we felt was best for us."
On if it is fair to say the Browns evaluation was that Turbin can produce more this year than Pryor:
"Correct. Very fair to say that."
On when Pryor was labeled as the 53rd player on the roster:
"That starts probably heading into the last week of making the decision. You kind of form it in tiers. These are the guys that are in, these are the position minimums and the guys that we're comfortable with and then this is the next pool of guys to fill those spots that are above the minimum. We're at the minimum essentially in the offensive line. Now, we're not at quarterback anymore. That factored into it, as well, there looked for a time that we were going to add our third quarterback on to the practice squad but there was timing again. You had a chance to add a player that we had positive reports on and a guy that we had done a lot of research on before. We had an opportunity to add him to the roster so that essentially bumps, potentially bumps another guy out. It all gets factored in."
On if the Browns will add a third RB for Sunday's game:
"Like I said yesterday, I'm not going to comment on any future transactions."
On if the Browns like RB Shaun Draughn enough to consider elevating him to the 53-man roster:
"Sure. Absolutely."
On the deadline to determine whether or not to add a third RB for Sunday's game:
"It would be tomorrow."
On if GM Ray Farmer was involved in discussing Turbin before his suspension:
"Yes."
On if Farmer would have approved:
"When Ray was on the verge of leaving, we just spit balled a lot of possible scenarios that could happen and that was one of them."
On being curious about Pryor's possibilities if Pryor was healthy all training camp:
"But we deal in reality, he wasn't healthy all camp. I have enough things on my plate dealing in things that actually happened, but the fact is that he wasn't and that he was not prepared at this point to be a viable productive member – I'm not saying that he never will be, I'm very confident that he will be knowing his work ethic, knowing his skill set, he will be – like I said, its timing and its circumstances."
On the importance of starting the season off with a win, given the Browns history:
"Oh we know, just like we knew last year that it had been 10 home openers in a row. We knew that last year, too. We know it, we also know that it doesn't affect us. That it's 0-0 and we know we're going down there to play a very similar football team. Just look at last night. It's a cliché, but fewest mistakes wins the game. A lot f of penalties, missed field goals and miscommunication, and you turn a guy loose, you're giving up touchdowns as opposed to field goal attempts. It's a very fine line. Despite how the score looked early, that game very easily could have gone the other way, but it comes down to the little things."
On if he has any unknowns heading into Sunday's game:
"Fewer. There are some I just think, new offense, new faces on offense especially. Defense. I think there's fewer question marks because we have so many of the guys back from a year ago and it's the same system. I would say that's where the majority of the questions would be. (QB) Josh McCown here. How are we going to be on gameday? You can only take so much from practice, a little bit more from preseason but it's still not a game."
On heading into his second opener as head coach compared to last year:
"I just think more settled, more confident. Just having gone through this before, I've traveled gone to an opener. I just think as a staff, we've talked about it. It's just a better feeling because we've gone through it already."
On if any veteran players had a hand in the Pryor decision:
"No. I think I said before but players don't make very good GM's. It was purely front office, coaches."
On if Pryor would have been active on Sunday:
"You only get 46 out."
On if he ever had a problem with the headsets in New England:
"Here are my comments on that. It's rare that I've gone through an NFL game that there was not a problem with the headset. That's at home, that's at our stadium, that was in New York. Miami, notoriously is literally you're marking spots on the ground, 'Do not stand here' because you just you learn each stadium and there are issues, there are dead spots. The system that we're using, it's my understanding that it's going to be replaced. That, to me, has been in the works. We've talked about it in the offseason. We're going to get through this season with what we have and there are problems with it. The guy that does our headsets name is Bob Meyers and God bless him because outside of being my PR guy, that's probably the worst job in the National Football League (laughter). It's a thankless job because you can test it so much and all of a sudden when the game starts and all of a sudden the TV network stuff is up and running and all of the media stuff is going on. Things are bound to pop up. At New England, have there been stories of it happening there more frequently? I've heard them. I've been a part of it up there when things have gone down here and there, but I wouldn't say it was any more than any other place. If the Dolphins had built a dynasty somehow, would people then be accusing them of it? Probably. I think there's a lot of merit to people talking about when somebody is that good for that long that something has to be wrong. I do know they have one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game. They're always well prepared. It's rare that you get by scheme wise with stuff on them. Their teams are always very fundamentally sound. That's why they win. Sometimes that jealousy of there's no way they can be doing this year in and year out and be doing things the right way. To answer your question, yes, but it hasn't been any more there than other places."
On how he left things with Pryor:
"I had a very positive conversation with Terrelle. I'll leave it at that."
On if QB Johnny Manziel will be the No. 2 QB on Sunday:
"Yes."
On Manziel throwing this week:
"I thought he had a good week. He stepped into some throws. I thought he tested it (his right, throwing elbow). To me, he seems to pass all the tests so we're confident that his good to go.
