BEREA - Pat Shurmur continued to hold his ground concerning the decision to take running back Trent Richardson off the field on a third-and-1 call at the Giants' 25 in the second quarter.
With running back Chris Ogbonnaya on the field, quarterback Brandon Weeden overthrew receiver Jordan Norwood. Stevie Jones made the interception, returning it to the Browns' 40.
The turnover set in motion a series of plays that turned a 17-10 Browns' lead into a 27-17 lead for the New York Giants at halftime. It's also led to considerable criticism of Shurmur for not having his best offensive player on the field.
Former Giants and Browns linebacker Carl Banks was quoted Sunday as saying, "When you take Trent Richardson off the field, you're doing the defense a favor." Shurmur still stood by his call.
"Maybe yes; maybe no," Shurmur said. "I don't think that's necessarily the case. Whoever you put on the field has a chance to be involved in a pass or run play. What you have to think about is what's important for the defense is knowing if you're running or passing. It would make sense to keep Trent on the field for the whole game, if he can handle it. At some point he will be able to."
INJURY UPDATE: Cornerback Dimitri Patterson sprained his left ankle early in the game and was taken off the field on a cart in the third quarter. Patterson is wearing a walking boot. He said he expects to miss a couple of games.
Middle linebacker D'Qwell Jackson suffered a concussion. He's undergoing all the required baseline tests and hasn't been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
COMING-OUT SHOWING: Rookie receiver Josh Gordon made the most of extended playing time with two touchdown receptions covering 82 yards. Shurmur liked what he saw of Gordon in other aspects of his game.
"I saw him blocking and doing some things in the run game," Shurmur said. "When you have screen plays that pop out like they did, and when you have a couple of long runs, you see good blocks down the field. Some those blocks were made by Josh and Greg (Little). He (Gordon) did some things where I said,
'Okay, he's starting to get it.' "
SHARING THE BLAME: Shurmur felt that mistakes were made on both ends of a Weeden incomplete pass for Gordon near the Giants' goal line. Gordon ran a slant route, and the pass was behind him.
"It was a called run play that had a built-in slant to the backside," Shurmur said. "They took away the run on the backside and we tried to make the throw. The throw could have been a little better, and then we need to catch that ball."
GETTING BETTER: Shurmur wasn't displeased with Weeden's effort against the Giants despite throwing one interception in the red zone and another in the end zone. Weeden was 22-of-35 for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
"I think he made progress," Shurmur said. "He stood in the pocket and threw the ball to number two and number three in the progressions a couple of times. He hit on a deep ball early in the game to a receiver (Gordon) he's been working with for a few weeks. There was some efficiency there, and there were some plays he'd like to have back. How he responds to all that is this week's challenge."
