Chudzinski Refutes Gordon Rumor: Rumors were flying around the NFL after ESPN reported the Browns were talking with the 49ers about a possible trade involving wide receiver Josh Gordon. Browns coach Rob Chudzinski was asked about the possibility Wednesday.
"I'm not going to get into any specifics or rumors of those types of things, but I will say that we are not shopping Josh and we have no plans of trading Josh," he said
After the Browns traded running back Trent Richardson, talk was that Gordon was also being discussed in trades. Chudzinski shot that down at the time and Gordon said he received texts from the coach telling him the rumors were untrue.
Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden said that the rumors are not bothering Gordon.
"Any kind of distraction has been a non-issue," Weeden said. "As players, those things are out of our control. He's worried about playing this week."
Sheard, Groves Back: Chudzinski announced that linebackers Jabaal Sheard (knee) Quentin Groves (ankle) would be back at practice Wednesday. Sheard was injured against the Vikings and has missed the past two games. Groves was injured against the Ravens and has missed the past three games. Both players were at practice, along with RB Chris Ogbonnaya (concussion).
"We're going to have Sheard and Groves back at practice and we're going to work them back in," Chudzinski said.
Defensive lineman Billy Winn (calf) did not practice.
No New QB for Now: Chudzinski said that the Browns might still bring in a third quarterback, but he's comfortable with two.
"We've been talking about our options," he said. "We'll continue to look at them."
Chudzinski mentioned that the Browns have been just suiting up two quarterbacks for the games and with the addition of MarQueis Gray, they have an emergency quarterback.
"I feel comfortable that on game day we're dressing two anyway we have an emergency guy, so we can take our time to do what's best for our team," he said
Special Travis: Wide receiver/kick returner Travis Benjamin was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Bills last week. Benjamin had seven returns for 179 yards, including a 79-yard return for a touchdown. His performance broke the Browns franchise record previously held by Eric Metcalf.
"It's a great honor and a feeling to know that I helped the team win," he said. "There were a lot of great blocks for me. On the touchdown, there were probably eight or nine nice blocks downfield."
Chudzinski said hat Benjamin's nickname is 'Rabbit,' which he picked up chasing and catching rabbits in the cane fields in Florida.
"When you grow up chasing rabbits, you're going to be pretty fast and he is," Chudzinski said.
Benjamin talked about his exploits chasing bunnies.
"I caught as many as 20 in a day," he said.
Benjamin said that farmers would set the cane fields on fire and he would run them down. He was asked what he did with them after he caught them. He said he would sell them or eat them.
"I thought they tasted like pork chops."
