Just listened to Phil Savage’s press conference, and the one quote that snagged my attention oddly enough to type it out verbatim is this:
“We don’t have players just running around this town crazy. Sometimes I wonder, maybe we need a little of that.”
It was something of an peripheral comment, but it wasn’t a joke either. He said it with nary a hint of a smile.
So let’s read a little bit between the lines. Clearly, Phil is not advocating the types of incidents that have revealed character flaws in past players — William Green, Mike Sellers, Gerard Warren, Ross Verba, Lamar Chapman, and Michael Jameson among them. I also don’t think Phil is a big advocate of the party scene. More booze and loose women is not part of his recipe for success.
But there must have been some impetus behind his comment, no matter how seemingly inconsequential. My theory is that he thinks the Browns are more than just a little too tight. They practice better than they play. Their confidence lags behind their talent. There’s been too much pressure on them, whether from within, from the coaches (the departed Carthon specifically not excepted), from the fans and media, or all of the above. Maybe that’s what Jurevicius meant. Maybe that’s behind all those drops and muffs. So Phil’s “crazy” comment is kind of a backwards shorthand for what he thinks he ought not say too directly for fear of stepping (further) on Romeo’s toes.
This team just needs to chill.
