Center Cameron Erving’s snapping issues could cost him his starting job with the Browns if they persist.
When Erving fired a shotgun snap over the head of quarterback Robert Griffin III and the ball rolled out the back of the end zone for a safety, the gaffe gave the Philadelphia Eagles a five-point lead with 10:49 left in the third quarter and proved to be the turning point in the Browns’ 29-10, season-opening loss.
Erving isn’t a first-time offender, either. He also snapped the ball high early in the second quarter during a failed fake punt against the Eagles. Running back Duke Johnson jumped to catch the snap and was subsequently tackled for a 6-yard loss. High snaps plagued Erving in training camp and the preseason, too.
Browns coach Hue Jackson made it clear he’s losing his patience with Erving, a first-round pick in last year’s draft who started at center in the NFL for the first time Sunday.
“I don’t know if you get too many chances to keep snapping it over the quarterback’s head,” Jackson said Monday. “I think he knows that. It is unfortunate. It is something that can’t happen in a game. It is embarrassing, and it is not right. But at the same time, I think for the negative that Cam did, he is doing some good things, too. Early in the game, for the most part, our protection was flawless.
“Cam is working at it, I’m sure. We are going to do everything we can to help fix that. I don’t want to coach the center and the quarterback snap, but if I have to take my jacket off and go down there and start coaching it, then I am going to.”
Erving, 6-foot-5 and 313 pounds, is tall for a center, but Jackson dismissed the notion that his height is a factor in the high snaps.
“Cam can do it. It is unfortunate the snaps show up, and it is something he has to correct,” Jackson said. “I’m disappointed in that, but I’m not down on the player. He has to get that fixed and has to get it corrected. It will hurt our football team if it keeps happening. There is no doubt about that.”
Roster move
The Browns promoted defensive lineman Gabe Wright from their practice squad to active roster Tuesday.
A spot on the 53-man roster opened Monday when the Browns placed Griffin on injured reserve with a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder suffered Sunday.
Wright, 6-foot-2 and 284 pounds, entered the NFL last year as a fourth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions. The Auburn product appeared in seven games last season and notched six tackles. He was signed to the Browns practice squad on Sept. 5, two days after the Lions waived him.
Elevating Wright wasn’t the only change on the defensive line.
Rookie Carl Nassib and Jamie Meder are now listed as starters on the team’s unofficial depth chart, which it released to media Tuesday.
Xavier Cooper and John Hughes were listed as the starting ends last week.
Man down?
Jackson insisted the Browns had 11 players on the field during their failed fake punt despite the TV copy and coaches film on NFL.com appearing to show only 10 players.
“No, we were not a man down,” Jackson said. “We had 11.”
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.