THEN:

Butch Davis, at his Sept. 22 news conference, discussing Kelly Holcomb’s injury the previous day: “…he’s fine, it’s a non-weight bearing deal, he’s got a tiny small little hairline fracture. I know that there’s some report floating around town that he’s got a major busted ankle and he’s gonna be out 4-6 weeks and it’s totally erroneous.”

NOW:

Davis, quoted in the Beacon Journal story entitled “It’s worse for Holcomb” today: “He stretched some of the ligament areas in the ankle when the foot was fractured.”

THEN:

Davis, quoted on the official site during training camp: “One thing this organization has never, ever done is put any player’s health in jeopardy.”

NOW:

Davis, quoted in Tuesday’s Plain Dealer: “We put [Holcomb] at risk [Sunday] by sticking him out there,” Davis said. “Thank goodness he didn’t get sacked and hit a bunch of times and didn’t have to scramble around. All of those things probably would’ve compounded and made it significantly worse today.”

So I ask, is this the kind of leader in whom you would invest your full faith and confidence? Would a team have any trouble buying into his system and his assurances? With this pattern of inconsistent comments, are you surprised that the team’s on-field performance is just as inconsistent?