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Preseason game tonight against Super Bowl team is tuneup for prime time
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Monday, Aug 18, 2008
BEREA: On Saturday, Browns coach Romeo Crennel cited a couple of instances of overexuberance in practice.
And he wasn't referring to quarterback Derek Anderson dancing a jig to Alabama's Mountain Music or linebacker David McMillan copying Michael Jackson's Thriller routine as Crennel used music to simulate crowd noise.
Rather, it was the effects of prime time on the long-starved Browns.
Cleveland plays five nationally televised games in the regular season, three on Monday night, one on Sunday night and one on Thursday night. It will mark the most prime-time appearances for the Browns since the 1988 and '89 seasons. They have not made a Monday night appearance in the regular season since 2003 against St. Louis.
The bright lights (and big city) atmosphere begins tonight when Cleveland (0-1) takes on the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants (0-1) at 8 p.m. (ESPN) at the Meadowlands.
On Friday, Browns Pro Bowl returner Joshua Cribbs could barely contain himself.
''We're excited,'' Cribbs
said. ''Lot of teams have looked at Cleveland and looked the other way. We're usually the team other teams have highlights on. But we're not the team to look over anymore.
''Cleveland is in the house. Put us in prime time. Let us see what we can do.''
Left tackle Joe Thomas relished the chance to test the big stage in preseason before it counts.
''Being able to have a Monday night game is going to be awesome,'' Thomas said. ''It will be the first Monday night game for a lot of the guys. Hopefully, when we play our first Monday night in the regular season, it won't be a new thing now.
''We've got a lot of prime-time games coming up this year and hopefully it will get a lot of the jitters out.''
Receiver Donte' Stallworth, who spent last year with New England, might be used to this. But he knows his new teammates aren't.
''We're going into a very hostile environment in New York with those great fans up there,'' Stallworth said. ''It will be a good situation for the young guys to experience all that, with them being the Super Bowl champions.''
Strong safety Sean Jones thought the game would be a good measuring stick for a Cleveland team that went 10-6 last season and fell a game shy of the playoffs.
''It's good, especially for the starters. We're going to see where we are against the world champs right now,'' Jones said.
Crennel will play his starters into the second quarter and will send out the Browns with a simple mission:
''I told the team I wanted to play smart, solid, sound football. We're facing the Super Bowl champs. We're going to have to play good if we're going to beat them.''
Defensive end Robaire Smith thought the game would be especially big for a defensive line trying to build chemistry with new starters Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers.
''This week, we're going to play a little more so hopefully we can get accustomed to playing with each other and start to depend on each other and play off each other,'' Smith said. ''And we're playing against the best team in football. I don't think it matters if it's preseason or regular season. We know those guys are going to compete. They've got a nice offensive line. So this will be a great test for our defensive line.''
Smith respects the Giants' offensive line, anchored by center Shaun O'Hara, an ex-Brown.
''This [Giants] line works together real good, probably the best in the NFL,'' Smith said. ''We're going to have to work together fitting blocks to knock those guys back. It will be the best test for us before this season starts.''
While the regular season opener isn't until Sept. 7 against Dallas, you couldn't convince Cribbs of that.
''We're looking forward to doing big things and it's going to start with the defending champs,'' Cribbs said.
Brownies
According to ClevelandBrowns.com, the Browns will unveil a new look — solid brown pants and brown socks. . . . Former Ohio State kicker Josh Huston was signed because Lawrence Tynes is out with a knee injury. . . . Former Michigan receiver Mario Manningham, the Giants' third-round draft pick, hasn't practiced since July 28 with a pulled quadriceps. . . . Other familiar faces on the opposing sideline will include ex-Browns running back Reuben Droughns and University of Akron products Domenik Hixon (receiver/returner) and Chase Blackburn (linebacker).
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
BEREA: On Saturday, Browns coach Romeo Crennel cited a couple of instances of overexuberance in practice.
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