The Cleveland Browns are sitting at 1-5 in October for the second straight year after suffering an ugly loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6.
Following a similar start last season, coach Kevin Stefanski relinquished offensive play-calling duties to then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. After declining to answer Sunday whether he’d be willing to do the same this season, Stefanski told local media Monday that he plans to continue calling plays for the Browns’ offense. Here’s what he had to say:
“Yeah, I’m going to keep calling plays, but I want to stress that this is — we have to get better in so many areas, and that includes coaching. That includes how we teach our guys, how we put them in different formations, the ways you run the ball, ways you pass the ball, all of the above.”
The Browns offense currently ranks last in the NFL in points per game, scoring just 13.7 through six weeks, including a season-low nine in Sunday’s loss. They’re also a bottom-ten passing offense (191.0 passing yards per game, 26th in the NFL) and bottom-five rushing offense (90.7 rushing yards per game, 28th in the NFL.) Cleveland’s offense has had issues all season, and Stefanski’s play-calling ability further came into question after a game plan from Sunday that had rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel drop back 58 times.
Despite the sluggish first month of the season for Cleveland’s offense, it will still be Stefanski, not offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, calling the plays when the Browns host the 1-5 Miami Dolphins this Sunday. The Browns already made a change at quarterback this season, and it appears that the switch to Gabriel is the only major change they plan to make on offense for now.
