The rumors say that the new Cleveland Browns management decided to fire coach Pat Shurmur a long time ago. After a 5-3 stretch over the last eight games, folks started wondering if Shurmur could save his job.
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Sunday's meltdown at home against the Washington Redskins probably erases that idea. The postgame aftermath won't help either.
Rookie running back Trent Richardson, who had just two carries in the second half, openly questioned Shurmur's play-calling.
"We (were) ready for the game," Richardson said, via The Plain Dealer. "I think we've just got a game plan, and the game plan we had at the beginning of the game, I think we should've stuck with it. But we didn't stick with the game plan and we tried to go do some other stuff, and the outcome came in a different way."
Asked about his usage in the second half, Richardson responded: "It's shocking. But like I said, the game's much bigger than me. I've got to let coach do what he does."
Shurmur put the game on Brandon Weeden's shoulders in the second half, and the rookie quarterback didn't respond well. Then again, Richardson had just 28 yards on 11 rushes overall. He's the least explosive starting running back in the NFL, and there were questions about if Richardson would be demoted in favor of Montario Hardesty.
Shurmur might not be ready to demote Richardson, but we'd expect the coach to have a long talk with him about his postgame comments.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
