The San Francisco 49ers offense has been running smoothly as of late, and offensive coordinator Greg Roman is hoping it continues against the Browns. He spent some time with the media after Thursday's practice at team headquarters, talking a bit about the health of some players, as well as giving some insight to how he approaches a game with an opponent like Cleveland.
Roman was asked about the status of center Jonathan Goodwin, and was hopeful that the big fella could come back from his concussion this week:
Do you anticipate Jonathan Goodwin being your starting center this week?
"I certainly hope so. Jonathan's been very important for us. He understands and knows what he's doing, gets everybody organized quickly, efficiently, and he's Cool Hand Luke in there at the center position. Understands the game and he's been really good for us."
Goodwin was limited for contact this week in practice, but the Niners hope that he can suit up this Sunday, as long as he passes all the concussions tests before the game of course.
Roman also spoke about wide receiver Braylon Edwards who has been progressing this week but may still not be healthy enough to play this weekend:
How has Braylon been moving and are you encouraged by what you've seen on the field?
"Yeah, it's day to day with Braylon. He's moving around pretty well and we just had a walk-through, so you really can't tell much there. We'll just keep taking it day-to-day. But, he looks like he's in pretty darn good condition physically. He's been working really hard and that's been Braylon Edwards since the first day he got here, he's been the consummate professional. The guy that I want to be in the fox hole with."
As long as his knee is stable and ready to go, I don't see any big problem with him playing this week. His cardiovascular condition is likely lagging with all the time off from training, but hopefully it won't be a inhibiting point for Edwards.
Roman also talked a bit about his approach to play calling at this time of the season:
At this point in the season, do you add plays that you had in the run in training camp or do you work off of the stuff you already know?
"A lot of it is based off what we've done. Again, not to rehash the offseason, but it was a different offseason and therefore our timeline changed. I don't think we're as deep into it as we would be normally, so there's more stuff that has yet to be unveiled."
Something up the sleeve...always something great to have in the NFL.
Can you talk about the Browns defense and what they are? Can you tell me what you see from them on film defensively?
"Not overly exotic, but extremely disciplined. They're the type of defense that they want to make you, if you're going to score, do it in 12 plays. They try to put the pressure back on you to execute. I'm sure they have other ways of saying that there. They're going to play a sound, physical scheme and everybody is going to be in the right spot and they're going to play hard.
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