J.B. Bickerstaff applauded the Browns' response to injuries while Cavs grind through it
CLEVELAND — Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff applauded the way the Browns and coach Kevin Stefanski rallied after a series of injuries to make the NFL playoffs.
It's a situation with which Bickerstaff and the Cavs can relate as they try to grind through their own rash of injuries en route to a hopeful playoff bid, and one Cleveland coach finding similarities with another.
Of course, the Cavs would like to avoid the same kind of disastrous playoff debut after the Browns were demolished by the Houston Texans on Saturday. The Cavs had a first-round disappointment of their own last year when the New York Knicks knocked them out in five games, so they've already been down that road.
But a Cleveland team rallying instead of packing it in after a flurry of crucial injuries? It has a familiar ring to it for those in the Cavs locker room, so Bickerstaff as well as anyone else might have appreciated the Browns' run over the last several weeks, despite the quick finish in the playoffs.
"It's tough when it ends the way it ended, but when you sit back and you think about all the things that happened to them, you talk about injuries to Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson, four starting quarterbacks — it would have been very [easy] for the players to give in [while playing] a sport that's grueling," Bickerstaff said of the Browns, who went on a 4-0 run to secure the No. 5 seed in the AFC. "Every single possession is a physical possession, and it'd be very easy to just say, 'You know what? We don't got it.' But never once did they do that. They continued to figure out a way to scrap out wins and put themselves in a position to make the playoffs.
"A ton of credit to Kevin for him and his leadership of keeping that group together. And a brilliant mind to figure out, what do we need to do this week with this quarterback? … And it wasn't a, 'Oh, well this happened, so now we can't do this.' So it's something from a coach's perspective and a sports fan, like I admire what those guys did over there and have a ton of appreciation for just the ability to grit it out and figure it out."
The Cavs lost Darius Garland and Evan Mobley for at least a month each, with both injuries being announced within a few hours of one another. That's 40 percent of the starting rotation and arguably two of the three most important players on the roster. Bickerstaff said at the time that he hadn't heard any of the calls for the Cavs season to be declared over, and he didn't care if they were saying that.
So, again, he can appreciate the Browns' rebound after losing Chubb, Watson and others.
"You heard all the noise, 'It's over, it's this, that, and whatever,'" Bickerstaff said. "But they never heard it. They continued to fight, continued to scrap and made it to the playoffs, which isn't easy to do."
The Cavs are hoping to pull off something similar, only with a much different ending.
Darius Garland, Evan Mobley progressing, but still without a clear timetable
Garland (jaw) and Mobley (knee) are inching toward their respective returns, but the Cavs still are operating without a clear timetable.
Garland was originally slated to be re-evaluated four weeks after the original injury date, which would be right around the middle of January. Mobley was slated to be out another two to four weeks from Monday based on his original timetable.
In large part, the Cavs are still waiting for more clarity in both cases.
"Evan and Darius are working their way back. Both of them are taking steps in the right direction," Bickerstaff said. "Obviously different injuries allow them to do different things, but they're progressing, so it looks positive."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff says Browns used grit in playoff run
