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Mangini: Harrison Should Talk to Me

Nov 21, 2009 – 3:13 PM
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Michael David Smith

Michael David Smith %BloggerTitle%

Early this season, running back Jerome Harrison was an integral part of the Cleveland Browns' offense. In Week 3, he had 21 touches (16 carries and five catches) and in Week 4 he had a whopping 34 touches, with 29 carries and five catches.

But Harrison's role in the offense has steadily declined, to the point where in Monday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Harrison never got the ball.

That has Harrison so unhappy that he told reporters he'd rather not talk to them -- because he's sure nothing good would come of him saying what he thinks.

Even if Harrison isn't going to talk to the media, however, Browns coach Eric Mangini wishes Harrison would talk to his coach.

"Anything that he wants to talk about, he can come talk with me at any point, just like all these guys can," Mangini said, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

As to the specifics of why Harrison isn't as involved in the offense as he used to be, Mangini said it's basically just a numbers game: Mangini says running backs Jamal Lewis and Chris Jennings are getting the bulk of the work.

'"It's not like some other positions where you can play multiple guys at the same time," Mangini said. "You can create some packages like that, but there's one. You have certain things that you like Jamal to do. You have certain things that Jerome does. You have certain things that you want to see Chris do."

Regardless of the specific reasons that Harrison has been phased out of the offense, it's clear that a whole lot of players in Cleveland aren't happy with the way Mangini is running the team. Some of them will say so, while others, like Harrison, don't want to say what they really think.
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