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| Cleveland will reportedly be 'managing' T-Rich on Sunday. (AP) |
Trent Richardson made good progress in getting ready for the season over the past week and, as CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora reported on Friday, is "ready to go" as the Browns' Week 1 starter against the Eagles.
Albert Breer of the NFL Network confirmed as much on Sunday morning but also muddled up Richardson's status a bit. He reported Cleveland will be mananging T-Rich's workload throughout the day.
Per Breer, the Browns will use Montario Hardesty to spell Richardson on first and second downs and, on third downs, he'll "come out in favor of Brandon Jackson."
The Browns reportedly "want to manage him to so he can make him through a 16-game season and be cautious with their new investment.
Richardson probably won't come out every third down: I'd expect to see him in the backfield on third-and-short plays. But it seems pretty safe to say that the Browns won't use him on passing downs.
Two things are worth watching here. One, can Richardson develop enough of a rhythm being yanked in and out of the game to be effective?
And two: how much will Cleveland run with Hardesty and Jackson? If they simply pass when those two backs are in, it would kind of develop into an awkwardly predictable pattern.
Surely Pat Shurmur will avoid falling into that trap, and good for the Browns for not running into the ground a guy who' has had two knee surgeries since February without actually playing any football.
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