CLEVELAND (AP) — Rising high above downtown Cleveland on an unusually warm autumn night, the Terminal Tower was bathed in bright orange lights on Sunday, a glowing tribute to a team that has this...
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Hue Jackson and Marvin Lewis don't know if they will appear again on an NFL sideline but on Saturday they will be coaching players who hope to get to the next...
Given all of the talent they've assembled — Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward — it'll be fascinating to see whether the Cleveland Browns are...
CLEVELAND (AP) — Greg Robinson resurrected his career and resolved a major problem for the Browns last season.
He'll try for an encore.
Robinson, a former high draft pick whose days in...
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Gregg Williams was hired Wednesday as the New York Jets' defensive coordinator, the first major staff addition by Adam Gase since he became coach.
The team also announced it has retained special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, whose unit had a standout season.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Former Broncos head coach Vance Joseph will interview for Cincinnati's job this week as the Bengals begin their search for Marvin Lewis' replacement.
Joseph will be in Cincinnati on Thursday and Friday to talk to owner Mike Brown and members of the front office. The Bengals' familiarity with Joseph works in his favor. Joseph was the defensive backs coach under Lewis in 2014-15.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Gregg Williams showed the Browns what he could do as their coach for a half-season.
On Tuesday, he shared his plans for a full one — and maybe more.
Williams, who led Cleveland to a 5-3 record as an interim coach, became the first candidate to interview with general manager John Dorsey, who is looking for a "man of character" to lead one of the NFL's rising teams.
DENVER (AP) — Every year, while a dozen NFL head coaches are preparing their teams for the playoffs, nearly as many coaches are called into their general manager's office and told they're fired for not being one of those dozen coaches who are preparing their teams for the playoffs.
Eight coaches lost their jobs in 2018, including Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and Hue Jackson in Cleveland, long before the holidays rolled around.
Sean Payton despises the term "Black Monday." And he's one of the coaches who always survives it.
Six head coaches were fired as the NFL season concluded, four of them on Monday. Two, Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and Hue Jackson in Cleveland, didn't even make it that far.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gregg Williams has no idea whether he's going shed the interim label and return as coach of the Cleveland Browns.
It sure seems as if he wants to, though, so he can finish what he started.
After replacing Hue Jackson in late October and rallying the Browns (7-8-1) to within a victory of a winning record, Williams is confident that no matter who's in charge next year, the woebegone franchise is headed in the right direction with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Baker Mayfield went from scowling at Hue Jackson to glaring at critics.
Three days after he tried to embarrass his former coach with a prolonged stare down in the closing minutes of Cleveland's win over Cincinnati, Mayfield owned up to his actions and then said he doesn't regret them.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Just a year ago, the Browns were winless. They were aimless. They looked hopeless.
Disgusted with their laughable team, some Cleveland fans spent the holidays planning a tongue-in-cheek parade around FirstEnergy Stadium to celebrate a probable 0-16 season. Coach Hue Jackson promised to jump into Lake Erie.
Those gloomy days are long gone. The Browns have turned it around.
"It's been a long time coming," wide receiver Rashad Higgins said. "We were due for a winning team."
Maybe it was Baker Mayfield's way of saying "Merry Christmas" to his old coach.
OK, maybe not.
Mayfield threw for 284 yards and three scores in engineering the Browns to yet another win Sunday, but his staredown of fired Browns coach Hue Jackson grabbed more attention than anything. It came after the rookie quarterback connected with David Njoku for a 66-yard gain that sealed a 26-18 victory over Cincinnati.
CLEVELAND (AP) — No awkward hug. No cold handshake. No holiday greeting.
Baker Mayfield's only interaction with former coach Hue Jackson was an icy stare.
Mayfield threw three touchdown passes to thrill a sellout, holiday-spirited crowd that came out to boo Jackson, and rookie Nick Chubb ran for 112 yard as the Cleveland Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-18 on Sunday to sweep their southern Ohio neighbors for the first time since 2002.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Marvin Lewis spent about 60 seconds summing up his team's latest loss. Hue Jackson was nowhere to be found.
At this point, there's not much left to say — the Cincinnati Bengals are a mess.
CLEVELAND (AP) — No awkward hug. No cold handshake. No holiday greeting.
Baker Mayfield's only interaction with former coach Hue Jackson was an icy stare.
Mayfield threw three touchdown passes to thrill a sellout, holiday-spirited crowd that came out to boo Jackson, and rookie Nick Chubb ran for 112 yard as the Cleveland Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-18 on Sunday to sweep their southern Ohio neighbors for the first time since 2002.
CLEVELAND (AP) — 'Tis the season for giving, and Hue Jackson's about to get something before Christmas he can't return.
Fired by the Browns in October after winning just three of 40 games as Cleveland's coach, Jackson will return Sunday for the first time to face fans who haven't forgotten or forgiven him.
"I'm sure he'll get booed a lot, the fans will probably give him a hard time," said Browns guard Joel Bitonio. "I think he understands that, too."
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Watch any NFL telecast that involves a struggling team, and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley likely will be mentioned as a potential candidate for that coaching job.
It makes sense. In just 18 months since replacing Bob Stoops, Riley's high-powered offenses have produced Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield and led the way to two College Football Playoff berths. Riley's Sooners face Alabama on Dec. 29 in a national semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Browns' playoff odds remain immense, nearly impossible.
Gregg Williams' chances, on the other hand, have improved.
Since being elevated to Cleveland's interim coach when Hue Jackson was fired on Oct. 29, Williams, the team's in-your-grill defensive coordinator, has guided the Browns to four wins — two on the road — and has a team that didn't win once last season playing meaningful December games, believing anything is possible.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Kyle Shanahan's coaching tenure hasn't quite gotten off to the greatest start in San Francisco.
He lost his first nine games with the 49ers last year before the arrival of Jimmy Garoppolo provided a late-season spark with five straight wins to close a 6-10 campaign.
With Garoppolo sidelined by a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 this year, the Niners have started the season 2-10 for the second straight year under Shanahan.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Mike McCarthy's connections with the Browns could land him his next job.
Dumped by Green Bay on Sunday after 13 seasons, a Super Bowl win and amid a seemingly growing rift with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, McCarthy's candidacy to become Cleveland's next coach has gotten more legitimate.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Somewhat lost and overlooked amid Baker Mayfield's public spat with former Browns coach Hue Jackson is that the rookie's playing at an elite level.
This quarterback isn't all talk.
Mayfield had a November to remember, completing 74 percent of his passes (65 of 88) while leading the Browns (4-6-1) to two wins and the edge of serious playoff possibilities.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Baker Mayfield won't back down, won't change. Not for Hue Jackson or TV commentators or critics or anyone.
Don't bother telling Cleveland's rookie quarterback how he should act, what he should say or how he should feel.
He's not listening.
"I'm not a cookie-cutter quarterback," Mayfield said. "Never have been, never will be."
CLEVELAND (AP) — Apparently, beating Hue Jackson on the field wasn't enough for Baker Mayfield.
A day after throwing four touchdown passes in a 35-20 win over Cincinnati and then rejecting a postgame hug from his former coach, Mayfield called Jackson "fake" as the Browns rookie quarterback fended off criticism of his behavior.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Something shocking has happened to the Browns, those bumbling, fumbling, quarterback-searching, coach-firing, draft-busting losers.
They've disappeared. Maybe gone for good.
"This is a new team," said center JC Tretter. "We had goals we came into the season with, and we're starting to show what we're capable of. Obviously, it's been a rough couple seasons for the Browns, but this team is a totally different team."
Led by brash rookie QB Baker Mayfield, the Cleveland Browns suddenly merit keeping an eye on.
Are they legitimate playoff contenders yet? Of course not; only their most ardent fans would say so.
CLEVELAND (AP) — For more than three years, the Browns have only tripped on the road.
Cleveland hasn't won an away game since Oct. 11, 2015, a losing streak that has reached 25 straight — just one shy of the NFL record for road futility held by the Detroit Lions (2007-10).
CINCINNATI (AP) — A jogging Hue Jackson didn't break stride as he left the practice field. The recently fired Browns head coach was trying to outrun questions about what it's like being on the opposite sideline this week.
Jackson left Cincinnati after the 2015 season and spent two-plus seasons trying — futilely — to get the Browns to win. Now he's back in town , trying to beat them in a pivotal game.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — While the Browns relaxed during the bye week, their fired former coach went back to work.
Hue Jackson's got a new gig.
And this strange season in Cleveland will take another odd turn Sunday when the Browns face the Bengals and Jackson, who somehow survived an 0-16 season and was only briefly unemployed before being hired last week as a special assistant to Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Hue Jackson was talking to reporters outside Paul Brown Stadium when quarterback Andy Dalton yelled at him that practice was about to begin.
Just like old times.
The former Bengals offensive coordinator is back in town, though this time dabbling in the other side of the playbook — well, mostly. How that part plays out is an interesting subplot as the Bengals (5-4) make one final push to save their at-risk season.
An unusual coaching arrangement for desperate times.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Hue Jackson needed only a few weeks to land another job in the place where he's always welcomed.
The Bengals hired Jackson on Tuesday as a special assistant to head coach Marvin Lewis as he tries to resurrect Cincinnati's historically bad defense. Jackson was fired by the Cleveland Browns last month after he won only three games in three seasons as head coach.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Hue Jackson's timeout from coaching didn't last long.
Fired last month after a brutal run with the Browns, Jackson will rejoin Cincinnati's staff under Marvin Lewis, a person familiar with the hiring told The Associated Press on Monday night.
CLEVELAND (AP) — From disorganized and dysfunctional to disciplined — and according to rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, dangerous.
The Cleveland Browns are looking a lot better these days.
Not great, but improved. Greatly improved.
Two weeks after coach Hue Jackson's long overdue firing, the Browns showed a glimpse of a brighter future with their best all-around game in several seasons, a convincing 28-16 victory on Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam will count on John Dorsey's keen eye for talent to find a coach.
Cleveland's general manager since December, Dorsey will head the team's search for a coach to replace Hue Jackson, who was finally fired last month after winning just three of 40 games over two-plus seasons.
DENVER (AP) — Coaches made some curious calls, assertions and admonitions in Week 9 as the NFL hit the halfway point with some real head-scratchers.
Oakland coach Jon Gruden insisted the silver and black is still golden, saying he's getting calls from players dying to play for the Raiders (1-7) next season.
CLEVELAND (AP) — With almost every flick of his right wrist, the legend of Patrick Mahomes grows.
And he's just beginning.
Only 10 games into his NFL career, Kansas City's young quarterback is doing things that have never been done before.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Hue Jackson didn't lose his nerve.
Fired this week by the Browns after winning just three of 40 games in two plus-seasons, Jackson on Friday disputed owner Jimmy Haslam's assertion there was "internal discord" on the coaching staff that made his dismissal — along with offensive coordinator Todd Haley's — necessary.
Days after being let go, Jackson appeared on ESPN to defend his record, describe regrets and essentially audition for another job.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Back when their chances of playing quarterback in the NFL were still in the dream stages, Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield sat in an apartment near Texas Tech's campus and played video games.
It was 2013.
Three years later, they appeared to do the same thing on the field.
"It was a basketball score," Mayfield recalled.
"That game was crazy," Mahomes said, remembering the October night in 2016 when he and Mayfield re-wrote the NCAA record book.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Baker Mayfield's baptism with the Browns is complete.
Some coaching chaos made it official.
Cleveland's rookie quarterback admitted Wednesday he was stunned by the firings of coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who were dismissed within an hour of each other on Monday. Owner Jimmy Haslam cited "internal discord" as the primary reason behind the team's latest reboot.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Browns owner Jimmy Haslam finally tried the patient approach with his head coach.
That didn't work either.
Haslam made his fourth coaching change since 2012 by firing Hue Jackson, who won just three of 40 games over two-plus seasons and then lost his job because of a feud with offensive coordinator Todd Haley that went public and threatened to turn a promising season into another one of those Cleveland catastrophes.
Gregg Williams won a Super Bowl in New Orleans. He also was suspended for a year for organizing a bounty scheme with the Saints.
Williams, elevated from assistant to head coach of the Cleveland Browns when Hue Jackson was fired Monday, has quite the resume for his work building aggressive and usually successful defenses. That resume, though, is tainted by what went down in New Orleans.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley says he's not interested in the NFL right now.
The question came up at his weekly news conference Monday, the same day the Cleveland Browns fired coach Hue Jackson. The 35-year-old Riley, who led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff last season in his first year as head coach, is considered one of the rising stars in coaching. He got a new five-year, $25 million deal this summer.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — All those positive vibes created by their big win over Baltimore three weeks ago are gone — mostly forgotten.
The Browns are fading fast.
And coach Hue Jackson or offensive coordinator Todd Haley could vanish soon.
"We have to go to the drawing board," Jackson said following a 33-18 loss Sunday to the Steelers that wasn't that close. "We have to get better. We aren't where we need to be, bottom line."