Well, that didn't take long. Less than a week after new Browns general manager John Dorsey blasted the previous regime and the players currently on the roster, and in the process put everyone on notice, he walked back those comments.
Speaking with 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland -- a CBS Sports Radio station -- on Tuesday, Dorsey called his previous remarks a bad choice of words.
"Listen, you guys are professional wordsmiths," Dorsey said, via ESPN.com. "I am not a professional wordsmith. I'm a football guy. My intent was to say we don't have enough good football players. There's some good football players on this team.
"Are there some good young football players on this team? You bet there are. And you know what, we're going to get some more football players, and we're going to get some Ws, too."
If you missed Dorsey's original comments, here's what he said, via our Will Brinson:
Appearing on Aaron Goldhammer's "Really Big Show" on WKNR 850, Dorsey threw the previous regime (read: Sashi Brown, who was recently fired) under a bus, while simultaneously praising Hue Jackson and basically declaring his roster a bunch of JAGs.
"You know what? You've got to get a guy like [Hue Jackson] players,'' Dorsey said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "And you know what? I'll come straight out with it. The guys who were here before, that system, they didn't get real players."
Dorsey's right. For all the crap we love to give the Browns -- and most of it is deserved -- there are some good players on the roster, like Jamie Collins and Josh Gordon. There are also young players who ooze potential, like Myles Garrett and Corey Coleman. The Browns are still a bad football team, but their roster isn't completely devoid of talent and potential. Are there still too many holes? Definitely, including the coaching staff.
Speaking of that, Dorsey also spoke more glowingly of Hue Jackson, who somehow has job security even though he's 1-29 as the Browns head coach.
"Hue and I have a really good relationship," Dorsey said. "First off, I think ownership has said that Hue would be back. With that, I'm excited to work with with him here. I've been really impressed with how Hue messages to the player. I've always thought that head coaches should be leaders of men, and when I watch [Jackson] talk to the team and how hard guys play for him, that's exciting.
"Then we've sat down in the past -- I'm not sure how long I've been here -- but we've had great conversations, and part of those conversations have been about how to build that strategic plan for the 2018 season as well."
When the Browns fired ex-GM Sashi Brown, they revealed that Jackson will be the team's coach in 2018. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't change their minds if the Browns really do go 0-16. But that's probably one reason why Dorsey was complimentary of Jackson. The two will have to work together all throughout the offseason to turn around a team that's been rebuilding for, well, forever.
It wasn't a great look when Dorsey got the Browns job and immediately blasted the prior regime's roster construction, namely because that meant he was criticizing the players on the current roster, so it shouldn't be considered a surprise to hear him walk back his comments. It also shouldn't be surprising to feel like Dorsey is legitimately excited about the situation he inherited. Thanks to the previous, oft-criticized regime, Dorsey is inheriting a wealth of draft picks, including two top-five picks (entering Week 16). It's not often that Cleveland is considered an appealing NFL destination for GMs and coaches, but that's exactly what it was this time around.
Dorsey, who went 43-21 in Kansas City, is going to get his shot to build his roster his way through the draft. A GM can't ask for much more than that -- besides, maybe, the freedom to hire his own head coach, but that's a different story for a different day.