Wide Receiver Joshua Cribbs (On another change within the organization)- “I feel like the organization is still intact. We have our captain of the ship, (Eric) Mangini is still running it. We always went to war with him and we’re going to war with him.”

(On why the team’s hard work during the week does not turn into positive results on Sunday’s)- “I have no answer for that. You can’t explain some of the things that happen. Our effort is not being shown in the win column and it’s evident. It’s really disappointing to the fans and to us as players. It’s just something that we’ve been struck with, we have to deal with. It’s not going good right now, but as a professional player I have to keep going. As team, we have to keep going and move on, try to win the next game.”

(On if the players get used to personnel changes)- “It is adversity. That’s the pure definition of it, going through change and difficult situations unexpectedly. How you handle that determines your character. I feel like we handled it well and we’ll move on and keep showing effort out the on the field because that’s what our fans love. What they love most is a win, so that’s what we’ll keep trying to strive for.

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. In terms of the decision that was made yesterday, I can tell you that anytime a decision like this is made it is difficult personally and professionally. George (Kokinis) is a friend of mine and I respect him and I wish his family well. I can tell you that for a variety of reasons things didn’t work out. You never go into a situation like this with the intention of it not working out. We felt that, organizationally, this was the best decision in order to move forward. We have a strong structure in place on both the pro side and the college side and things will continue to operate effectively on a day-to-day basis. I understand that you all have a lot of questions and there is really nothing that I’m going to add to this. I hope that you can respect that. What I will talk about are the things that we’re doing as a team over the course of the week in order to improve.

“What we did this morning and last night is, as a staff last night, we went through the first and second down packages. We really analyzed the things that we did well, the things that, as part of that, that we think we can continue to improve on, whether it be scheme, technique, whatever the case may be, things that we want to remove from the various packages and some things that we want to add. The coaches put together clips to reflect that, a scouting report, sort of a Browns scouting report and adjustments. [We] presented that to the players and then we’ll go out and practice that here this afternoon.

The Browns confirmed reports that their GM has parted ways with the organization with a statement on their website that read:

Cleveland Browns General Manager George Kokinis is no longer actively involved with the organization. In response to rumors and reports that Kokinis was escorted out of the building today, the Browns deny those reports. In the interest of protecting the parties involved we will withhold further comment.

The Cleveland Browns have fired general manager George Kokinis after only months on the job. Kokinis had been hired as GM after the Browns hired head coach Eric Mangini and many pundits had thought it was strange that he was picked before the head coach.

Kokinis was given his walking papers in the afternoon today when he was escorted out of the Browns headquarters in Berea. He had been hired from the Baltimore Ravens organization and was friendly with Mangini during their tenure with the Browns in the Bill Belichick era. With the move, one has to wonder if the head coaches job is in jeopardy if the team continues to play as poorly as they have this season.

You can make a lot of money betting against the Browns. They rarely cover the spread. Yesterday, for instance, the Browns were 13-point underdogs and they lost by 24 to the mediocre Chicago Bears. No number is too big for our Browns.

Last week a wise old head in a newsroom which will not be identified suggested that the best time to bet against the Browns is when they're at home because the oddsmakers automatically allow three points for home field advantage. The Browns have no home field advantage. They're equally pitiful home or away.

Keep that in mind in two weeks when the Browns come off the bye week and play Baltimore here at home. While that's the best time, remember that there is no bad time.

By the way, speaking of numbers, I'll post the official line on every high school playoff game in the state Thursday morning. For conversational purposes only.

MORE NUMBERS. Two schools missed the playoffs on tie-breakers. Level three points were the difference as Canton McKinley edged Hudson in Division I and also gave Pemberville the nod over Clearview in Division IV.

In 14 other instances less than one computer point was the difference between eighth and ninth places.

(On what his kids are going to be for Halloween)- “Let’s see, we have Puss in Boots from Shrek. Yoda, that’s the one year old and Luke Skywalker, that’s Luke. Luke loves Luke Skywalker. The two oldest, they are big Star Wars fans. Jake is Han Solo and Luke is Luke Skywalker. I am usually either Darth Vader or the Emperor. It’s great. I have a Darth Vader mask in my office. I am sure the players are wondering what that is for. [It’s for] when I Skype with them, I hope nobody ever walks in when that is happening. It’s fun. I know the Star Wars Symphony is coming to Cleveland. I had to watch that documentary last Friday about the making of. Good times, good times.”

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. How are we doing? One piece of housekeeping, David Bowens, who missed yesterday for personal reasons, he had a little boy, David Jr. It happened late Tuesday night, so he’s back with us. Everybody’s happy and healthy, so that’s good news. In terms of today, what we’re going to be working on is our third down package, offensively and defensively. We spend a lot of time on this, trying to make sure that we have a plan in place that: 1) is going to be effective against what they do and 2) emphasizes the things that we think we can really improve on and carry over, not just this week but week-to-week.

“I thought yesterday overall was a good start to the week. We added some tackling drills to continue to emphasize that. We’ll do that again today. [We are] just continually focusing on fundamentals and improving those things to make sure that even after we execute the scheme or there’s a completion or whatever it is, that we’re doing things fundamentally sound to either limit the production or to maximize the production offensively.”

Wide Receiver Joshua Cribbs (On if he gets motivated by playing another team that is known for its special teams play)- “I love going against a good special teams unit. This is a great special teams unit, if not one of the best in the league. We are all up for this one on [special] teams to matchup against a good football team.”

(On if it is a goal to break Brian Mitchell’s touchdown return record)- “Definitely. I grew up watching Brian Mitchell return kicks and play running back. That’s one of my idols in the NFL. I’m chasing the same goal.”

(On if Devin Hester developing from a special teams player to a wide receiver is an inspiration to him)- “It definitely is an inspiration. Everything about his play is an inspiration to me. He’s knocked down a lot of doors for the return game, special teams players becoming outstanding offensive players. He’s knocking down a lot of doors and letting coaches know that [special] teams players can be core players.”

(Opening statement)- “Good morning everybody. How are we doing? In getting ready for Chicago, some of the things we talked about, even in the preseason, anytime you play one of Lovie’s (Smith) teams, he’s led the NFL in turnovers. In terms of being able to create turnovers since he’s been there, 30 percent of their points have come off of turnovers. You know that they work on it consistently, because you see it. Whether it’s the defenders who are sacking the quarterback, their awareness of the football, the guys down the field making the tackle, their ability to not only identify the football, but get it out. It’s been something consistent since he’s been there and it’s helped them. The amount of points produced off those has won a lot of games for them. I think defensively, even though this is a different scheme than what we faced last week, they create some challenges in terms of the pressures that they use, like we saw last week. There’s some variation in what they do and who comes, so we’re going to have to do a good job identifying those things, being able to pick it up and then executing the pattern on the back end. Even in the running game, some of the movements, some of it could be purely off pressure, some of it could just be part of the overall scheme, but there is quite a bit of moment that you have to adjust to as an offensive line.