Hue Jackson gave a look into how in denial or how secure he felt in his job status with the Cleveland Browns during an interview with Cleveland.com that was published on Thursday.
Jackson was fired this week amid his third straight poor season with the Browns. The Browns went 1-15 in Jackson’s first season and 0-16 in his second. He says he felt Monday’s firing was “premature.” He says he felt the team was on the right track despite their 2-5-1 record.
“We had a lot of football left, were 2-5-1 with a rookie QB, left tackle, already played Pittsburgh twice, beat Baltimore, and could have easily been 3-4-1 if the first down isn’t taken back (in Oakland). The fact that we played four overtime games says that we were a better football team. In my mind, if we fix the offense – it’s a totally different story. So I do believe the move was premature. But I think a part of the problem again went back to the first two years,” Jackson told Cleveland.com.
It seems laughable for Jackson to argue that the move was premature when he was given a chance this year. Very few coaches are ever kept after going 1-15. Jackson then followed up that terrible season by going 0-16, which only one other team in NFL history has done. He never should have been brought back this year, but he was. He was given his shot with an upgraded roster. And he failed.
The Browns’ defense played well and created turnovers. The offense didn’t do enough to back them up. They didn’t give Baker Mayfield first-team reps in camp, which was ludicrous. The team gave too many carries to Carlos Hyde instead of their more productive backs. And they were one of the worst teams when it came to scoring on opening drives — a strong indication of poor coaching/preparation/gameplanning.
Jackson is lucky he lasted as long as he did. His firing was overdue, not premature.
