CLEVELAND -- In one corner, we have the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Hue Jackson, a multi-time offensive coordinator who struggled through record-setting losing seasons with rookie quarterbacks Cody Kessler and DeShone Kizer in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
In the other corner, we have offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who struggled to get carries for rookie running back Nick Chubb, passes to Duke Johnson Jr. and has had rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield throw an average of 41 passes a game while trying to move the ball down the field.
After Sunday’s 26-23 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, Jackson is committed to doing whatever it takes to get the Browns (2-4-1) back into the win column, including spending more time meeting with the offense.
“It’s not going to be about butting heads,” Jackson said Sunday. “I’m the head coach of the football team. I will do what I feel I need to do to get this team where it needs to be.”
PHOTOS | Cleveland Browns face Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium
With the Browns two games behind the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in the win column and two in the loss column in back of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North Division standings, Jackson feels something needs to change, especially with another division game on the horizon.
The Browns have a return game against the Steelers at Heinz Field this Sunday. The two teams tied in the 2018 regular-season opener.
“I feel like I have to, and I want to,” Jackson said. “That’s what I know, so I’m not going to continue to watch something that I know how to do keep being that way. That’s just the truth. That’s nothing against anybody in our building. I just think that’s what I do, and I think I need to be a little bit more involved.”
Referring to Haley as Cleveland’s “play-caller,” Jackson claims not to be causing a rift among the staff, but given his background as a successful coordinator with the Bengals, he wants to help.
“Trust me, I’m not trying to create any issue here,” Jackson said, “but I think if the offense is not playing well, and we haven’t been over a period of time, being a head coach and an offensive guy who’s done this, I think I have every right as a head coach to jump in here and see if I can help and assist to get this where I think it needs to be because we need to be better on offense. If that’s my specialty, than I need to be involved more, and I will be.”
Jackson served as the Browns’ de-facto offensive coordinator in both 2016 and 2017, and Haley was brought in during the offseason to help jump-start an organization with a retooled roster of players after last year’s 0-16 campaign.
Heading into the stretch run of the season before the annual bye week, Jackson is looking to get the Browns into the win column on a more consistent basis.
“I’ve been respectful,” Jackson said. “That’s why you bring guys in and you make them the coordinator. Again, there are some things we’ve got to fix fast to get this thing back to where it needs to be.
“I’m the head coach of the football team, period. Period. There’s nothing else that needs to be said. Nothing. That’s the way it works. I’m the head coach of the football team. That’s it.”
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