BEREA: A high shotgun snap for a safety. A bruised lung. An undisclosed illness. An injured shoulder. A potential position change. A fight and an ejection. A winless record.
This has not been a fun season for Browns starting center Cameron Erving.
“It’s definitely been trying,” Erving said Tuesday, “not only for me individually, but for us as a team and as an organization.”
After being thrown out of Sunday’s 35-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys early in the first quarter for fighting, Erving will be back in the middle of the offensive line Thursday night when the Browns (0-9) visit the Baltimore Ravens (4-4).
“He’s well-rested. That’s for sure,” coach Hue Jackson said. “We teased him yesterday. He’s got fresher legs than anybody.
“I think he’s ready to go. I think his mindset’s good. I think he’s looking forward to playing.”
As Browns quarterback Cody Kessler scrambled on third-and-8 at the Cowboys’ 13-yard line, Erving blocked backup defensive lineman David Irving. Irving called it a blindside block, but Erving insisted it was clean.
“He was about to make a play, and I took the hit off the quarterback,” Erving said.
Regardless, the two linemen began to tussle. Irving ended up on top with Erving on his back.
Erving said Irving punched him in the face. As Irving stood, Erving appeared to strike him in the groin with his right leg. While they were being separated, Erving yanked Irving’s helmet off and threw it at him. The helmet glanced off Irving’s right foot as he tried to dodge it.
“You can only not react for so long,” Erving said. “I have to keep a cooler head and make sure I don’t let that happen again ever.
“It was an unfortunate event. I acted how I feel like I was supposed to react, but I have to know as a professional I can’t grab a guy’s helmet and throw it.”
For Erving, the most frustrating part of the ejection is he couldn’t help his teammates for the rest of the game. He was thrown out with 12:44 left in the first quarter.
John Greco moved from right guard to center. Alvin Bailey moved from left guard to right guard. Spencer Drango came off the bench to fill in at right guard.
“We start pretty fast and when we lost Cam, I think that made a big deal because some guys weren’t getting reps on the right side like they were normally in the week and it was Cam getting the reps; and then we had to move John to center, and that’s how fast you can get jacked up,” wide receiver Terrelle Pryor said. “I know Cam is mad at himself for getting kicked out. It kind of messes up the game plan because if you can’t protect the quarterback, it’s hard.”
The Browns were also robbed of another opportunity to evaluate Erving at center. The 19th overall pick in the 2015 draft has struggled in his first season as a starting NFL center, but the sample size has essentially been limited to 4½ games.
Technically, Erving has six games on his resume this season. However, he essentially sat out all of Sunday’s game and didn’t play in the second half Oct. 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals because of an undisclosed illness. He also sat out three games with a bruised lung suffered Sept. 18 in a 25-20 loss to the Ravens.
Jackson said last week Erving would be moved to tackle (it would likely be right tackle) if things don’t work out for him at center. At Florida State, Erving started 37 games at left tackle and five at center. ProFootballFocus.com ranks him 34th among 34 centers this season.
“I’m focusing on center right now,” Erving said. “That’s what I’m playing, and that’s what I’ve been told. [Jackson is] doing his job as a coach, and they’re trying to build this organization. That’s what they’re doing. That’s all it is right now is talk.”
Erving explained he would always do what’s best for the team, but he also believes he has a future at center.
“[I’m] just trying to focus on the little things that the coaches are telling me to make sure I focus on,” he said. “I’m a tall center, so [I’m] making sure I’m focusing on smaller steps, more compact steps, so that we keep things cleaner.
“There’s times we have things blocked in the middle and all of us are big guys and big guys aren’t used to playing with a center this tall, so guys get tangled up, feet get crossed. [We need] to prevent things like that from happening and to make sure we stay running or get on a good pace, get some good chemistry going.”
The Browns won’t be able to count on Erving long term until he proves he’s reliable. He talked to his fellow offensive linemen about his ejection and understands their stance.
“They understood but they also expect more of me,” he said. “As one of the guys on this team, they expect me to be an example. So I have to continue to just be better and get to that point.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.