Ryan: Furrey's role will expand

10.30.2009

First-year Brown Mike Furrey may be listed as a wide receiver, but his skill set has allowed him to contribute in all three phases of the game.

Earlier in the season, Furrey was on the Browns special teams unit and registered a tackle. Since being inserted as a safety in the overtime loss to the Bengals, Furrey has seen significant time on defense.

When Furrey lined up defensively in the Browns' 31-3 home loss to the Packers last Sunday, his main responsibility was covering three-time Pro Bowl receiver Donald Driver.

"I thought Furrey played pretty decent," said Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. "That's a great player to break in with, Donald Driver. He caught an out-route on him and really that's about all the production Mike gave up.

"It's a unique situation to be able to have a guy that has talent to play both ways and to be able to utilize him," Ryan added. "He is such a smart guy that he can actually do that. We're going to continue to expand his role on defense and see what we've got. The days of the two-way player are usually done, but in Mike's case, I don't think it's a negative reflection of the defense. I think he can help to make us better."

When Furrey takes the field against the Bears on Sunday, he will be facing another well-respected quarterback in Jay Cutler.

Though Cutler has thrown 10 interceptions, he has passed for 11 touchdowns. As a team, the Bears average better than 21 points and 231.5 passing yards-per-game.

"The guy could throw a strawberry through a battleship," Ryan said of Cutler. "I really think he could. I've seen the (U.S.S.) Missouri up close and I honestly think he'd find a fault in it. He's got a huge arm. We told our guys, ‘Either get your hands up or you'll be running around with a big hole in you.'

"I think he's a great competitor," added Ryan. "I like watching the kid play. He holds the ball down by his shoelaces because he thinks he's tougher than everybody. He'll throw it and he doesn't care where it's going. He's going to get it to his man. You can be in the way of the ball, but the chances of you catching it are not real good if you're not used to catching one out of a cannon."

CLEVELAND WILL FIGHT

There is no looking forward to the Browns' bye week and no more looking back at the previous week's game.

The coaches are putting the players through a normal week of practice and are expecting a solid team effort against the Bears in all phases of the game.

While Ryan works to teach the players how to improve on tackling or take better angles toward a ball carrier, he also wants his charges to take on the mentality of the city they represent on the field.

"A little adversity happens, you don't turn your back, you fight," Ryan said. "You rub your hands together and you fight harder. That's what we're going to do on defense. It starts with Chicago, not after the open week. We're going to get after it this week.

"That's Cleveland people, they fight," he added. "Nothing's given to Cleveland."

GAINING CRITICAL YARDS

The Browns rushing attack has produced two 100-yard backs in Jerome Harrison (121 yards against the Bengals) and Jamal Lewis (117 yards in Buffalo), but only 1 touchdown this year.

Derek Anderson's 1-yard rushing touchdown came in the third quarter of the Browns' 23-20 overtime loss to the Bengals.

"You'd like to, on first down, be able to run the football into the end zone," Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said. "You want to try and develop an identity to do that and we haven't done it."

CRIBBS RESEMBLES SMITH

In addition to his kickoff and punt return responsibilities, fifth-year Brown Joshua Cribbs has worked his way into the rotation at wide receiver. In certain situations, Cribbs has lined up as a quarterback in "The Wildcat" formation.

Though he has not lined up as a running back in the traditional sense, Cribbs has run the ball out of "The Wildcat" and taken handoffs while being the man in motion from one side of the field to the other.

Cribbs reminds Mangini of Youngstown Chaney graduate and current Jets receiver Brad Smith.

"Say you had four wide receivers on the field and a tight end, traditionally, that would be an empty formation," said Mangini. "We would take Brad at times and motion him into the backfield and now you're in a three-wide receiver, tight end and running back set and you could run those types of plays with a guy like that.

"It's one personnel group, but you're creating another one because that guy does have some running back skills," he added. "It takes time. It takes a lot of work by the player and the group to get that. It's something that we've done a little bit of. Josh has played a lot of different roles with ‘The Wildcat' and at receiver. You have to build the package as you go."

Cribbs has not lined up at running back because his speed and mental toughness give him a chance to make plays from the receiver spot.

"He's strong when he's running his routes," said Mangini. "He's good with his run-after-the-catch. It's not that you don't think he's going to be as good in the other role, but you think that he's got a chance to keep developing and be really good in that role."

BUILDING FUNDAMENTALS

It is never too late to improve a basic skill set in any line of work.

With the weapons the Bears possess offensively, Mangini has had the defense continue working on its base tackling Thursday and Friday.

"We've been doing it since training camp and we're going to keep doing it," Mangini said of the tackling drills. "That, to me, is such a fundamental skill. It's something that can improve and needs to improve across the board. It also helps our offensive players with running to the football, yards after the catch, understanding where a defender's leverage is, how to attack it.

"I've been doing that for years, all the different places I've been and believe in it," he added. "I thought that defensively, we had a good day. I thought we had a really good day yesterday with the communication. The ability to identify what they're in, what the check is and do it quickly is key. Everybody has to understand this. Everybody has to take part in it. That, to me, is another skill that's developed. As it improves, we improve."

As the defense works to improve its tackling, Mangini is also putting the offense through its paces.

"I think there are some things that we need to clean up from yesterday in all three areas, whether it be the routes, the protection, the reads," he said of Thursday's practice. "It is a little bit different package than what we've seen over the last couple weeks, but I feel we're getting closer to understanding how to deal with it."