Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (10/13/18)

Cleveland Browns:

• Key for Browns: Worst to first in takeaways, turnover ratio (ESPN) - The Cleveland Browns’ turnover frenzy has not happened by accident, but it has had a huge impact on the team winning two of its first five games. Through five games, the Browns lead the NFL with 15 takeaways, the most by a Browns team in the first five games since 1989. More important, they lead the NFL in turnover ratio at plus-eight.
• Browns have a franchise-saving star in Baker Mayfield (Bleacher Report) - Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield had one of his best moments of the season last week, and it didn’t show up on the stat sheet. Mayfield was playing Baltimore, and the Ravens were attempting to get under his skin with some of the usual tricks. There was the occasional trash talk. The extra shove after he threw a pass. All were designed to irritate the rookie QB and knock him out of any potential comfort zone. There was a problem: It didn’t work.

• Denzel Ward earns Rookie of the Week honor (clevelandbrowns.com) - Denzel Ward has been named the NFL Rookie of the Week for the second time in five weeks.
• As a teenager, Derrick Willies need a place to live; he ended up finding a family (cleveland.com) - Rod Storch was sitting in a car on Sunday, listening on the radio when Derrick Willies caught a pass thrown by a scrambling Baker Mayfield in overtime and ran it to the Ravens’ 43-yard line. It was the play that rescued the Browns from the shadow of their own endzone and helped set up their second win of the season.

NFL:

• Jaguars sign Ereck Flowers (Big Cat Country) - The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed free agent offensive lineman Ereck Flowers to a one-year deal. To make room on the roster, backup offensive lineman Josh Wells has been placed on season ending injured reserve.
• Suh: Rams run defense has been horrible (NFL.com) - The Los Angeles Rams’ defense has been run over this season, including giving up 190 rushing yards last week to the Seattle Seahawks. ”Terrible, without question,” Ndamukong Suh said of the Rams’ run D the past two weeks, via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry. “That’s my personal opinion... It’s terrible just from a standpoint of how much run yardage we gave up.”

• Chiefs De’Anthony Thomas fractures leg in practice (chiefs.com) - Kansas City Chiefs’ wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas re-fractured his leg in practice on Thursday afternoon, suffering the injury to the same leg that the sixth-year wideout fractured in Week 17 of last season.
• Giants plan to stick with Eli Manning (ESPN) - The New York Giants are standing behind quarterback Eli Manning despite the team’s 1-5 start and his early-season struggles. A change at quarterback is still not on the table for the Giants, who will play a week from Monday on the road against the Atlanta Falcons.