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CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!

Three days. That's the entire gap between beating Carolina and hosting Pittsburgh for first place, which means this week's game plan gets built in about the time it takes me to devour a middling-size Detroit Style pizza. Short week, short bits. Here we go.

THE 24-HOUR RULE, ENFORCED EARLY: Todd Monken hadn't watched the tape when he met the press Monday. "We moved on to Pittsburgh last night." Chris Easterling has the rest in the Beacon Journal (paywalled), including Monken on a quarterback who was 10-of-21 for 67 yards through three quarters: "He knows he can play better. We can certainly coach better around him." That's about as honest as a head coach gets on a Monday. Hold that thought, because the rest of the league spent the weekend going the other way.

CENTER OF ATTENTION: Elgton Jenkins is in the concussion protocol, per Fred Greetham, and if he can't go it's Luke Wypler or rookie Parker Brailsford snapping the ball at Cam Heyward on three days' rest. As our injury rundown points out, Jenkins is a two-time Pro Bowl guard who only slid over to center because Wypler and Brailsford got hurt in camp. So the backup plan is the original plan, just with fewer reps. Terrific.

INFORMAL ATTIRE ONLY: I was convinced by folks that there would be enough of us who could gather early afternoon on Thursday at the Noble Beast that it would be an excuse for pre-game adult beverage prep and wear my Nick Chubb jersey. I made an RSVP form last night, so please commit whether you’ll be there or not. So far, it’s just me, but there are free bumper stickers and you can watch me drink beer. Undeniably a life-changing experience.

NOT KOSHER: Tytus Howard drew three flags Sunday and got a talking-to Monday. "If you jump offsides, you false start once, OK. All right, I get it. After that, it's over. It's not OK. It's not kosher anymore." The offense committed seven of the team's 12 penalties, five of them on a single first-half drive, and Monken called it "embarrassing" and "blank football". Easterling has the Browns at 34 penalties in three games, second only to Green Bay. Dawand Jones is "ready to go" at right tackle if Howard's knee has other ideas.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: KC Concepcion drew nine targets and caught two of them, for 5 yards. One bounced off his hands in the end zone for an interception that only went away because of the roughing call. Watson needs to settle down on short throws.. Monken: "We're under construction." Fine. The building inspector shows up Thursday at 8:15.

ALSO UNDER CONSTRUCTION: I spent last evening not sleeping because I was trying to figure out an issue with LiveWire threads, mobile Apple phones, and Twitter embeds. Such is the life of a webdork. This was fixed (I hope), but credit goes to the people who wrote me to let me know about it. I’m currently working on challenges with VPNs, for those who use them, and issues we had last Sunday with subscribers getting into the live chat. I’ve got as much time to get ready for Thursday night as the Browns do. Only about 60 hours now. 

TWENTY-SIX: Scott Petrak's Mason Graham piece has the quote of the week, courtesy of Harold Fannin Jr. "I love that. I call him 26. Can't tell y'all why." Then, roughly two seconds later: "All right, his signing bonus." Graham also corrected a reporter who gave him five sacks (it's four) and credits a daily sauna routine. A young man who fact-checks the press. Alright, then.

THE CURTAIN: Down in Tampa, the 0-3 Bucs have moved reporters away from the tunnel after games and into a room with a curtain, per Awful Announcing. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times calls it "The Mike Evans rule. Third and 28," after Evans got filmed losing his mind over a blown game last December. We've been credentialed since 2001, and Carmen Policy once called me a "Singular Source of Complaint," so I know a little about teams that would rather you didn't see things. It never works. The story just becomes the curtain.

THE McCARTHY FILE: The Giants sent a 2027 fifth-rounder to Minnesota for J.J. McCarthy, per ESPN, which takes one quarterback-hungry team off the board for Shedeur Sanders and/or Dillon Gabriel. The Browns supposedly have no plans to trade either (or Jerry Jeudy). Elias says McCarthy is one of four quarterbacks in 25 years to start 10 or fewer games for the team that drafted him. One of the other three is Johnny Manziel. Of course it is. 

THE OTHER McCARTHY: Mike's Steelers listed Joey Porter Jr. as a full participant for the first time (he's coming back from a back injury and hasn't played yet), with Jalen Ramsey (wrist) and Brandin Echols (concussion) limited and Rico Dowdle (toe) out, per PFT. It was a walkthrough, so all of that is an estimate. So is everything else about this week.

ODDS AND ENDS: Tylan Wallace left the stadium on crutches and in a knee brace, so don't be surprised if a receiver gets added. Tyson Campbell was "close" Sunday and Monken feels good about Thursday. And the practice squad swapped defensive backs, adding Myles Bryant and letting D'Angelo Ross go, per NFL Trade Rumors.

Three days to fix the snap count. No curtain required.

Have a good one! GO BROWNS!

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When not peeking behind the curtain for a living, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.

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