Why Browns coach Hue Jackson took off his headset during loss to Bengals

There is one winless team in the NFL, and their head coach isn’t willing to accept what’s going on.

The 0-7 Cleveland Browns might be getting a pass amid the afterglow of a Cavaliers NBA championship and the Indians’ appearance in the World Series this week, but that’s not how Hue Jackson sees it. He’s peeved at his team’s performance.

So much so that he took off his headset in disgust late in a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in which the Browns’ defense allowed 559 yards — including a Hail Mary touchdown before halftime — and 271 of those yards on the ground. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton took over the play-calling duties for the final 5:02 in the game after Jackson called a timeout and ripped his team.

Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson removed his headset at the end of the Browns' seventh loss in a row. (AP)
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson removed his headset at the end of the Browns’ seventh loss in a row. (AP)

“Yeah, I took them off,” the Browns head coach said, via Cleveland.com. “I called the team out. Yeah, I was disappointed because I don’t want anybody running the ball like that on us. We’ve got to get some things squared away, but I take responsibility for it all. It’s not our players; we’ve got to fix some things and keep working on some things and we will.”

It wasn’t all on the defense, as the Browns lost yet another quarterback with Cody Kessler going down — the Browns’ third starter to miss time this season because of injury — and a patchwork offensive line barely holding up at times.

But clearly, the defense is in rough shape and will be the toughest thing to overcome as they seek their first victory of the season. The players seemed to almost universally accept their coach’s symbolic display of anger and know it’s not a sign of Jackson quitting, but rather an attempt at motivation.

Jackson losing to his former boss, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, might have raised the tempter a bit. After all, Jackson was pegged by many as a possible successor to Lewis in Cincinnati.

“I don’t think [Jackson] expected to be 0-7,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “We’re battling and fighting to try to get a win right now, and that’s tough. You catch somebody after a game and there’s a lot of emotions, but I certainly expect to come back on Monday and he’s going to coach as tough as he always does. But then by Wednesday he’s going to bring that energy and that positivity that is needed every week.”

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!