Ethan Pocic, a center for the Browns, claimed he was flagged for shifting the ball before the snap the second week in a row without receiving a warning. Both of the Browns’ penalties came on third-and-one plays, and as a result, both drives ended in failed fourth-down conversion attempts.
Pocic stated on Wednesday, “There wasn’t (a warning), but it’s one of those regulations where there isn’t one right now. I’m just not able to accomplish it.
Kevin Stefanski, who is typically reserved, became agitated after the penalty on Sunday, when the Browns were down 27-19 with 2:37 remaining in the game. Well, agitated as he gets during press conferences.
The penalty on Sunday, with the Browns trailing 27-19 with 2:37 left in the game, was enough to get the normally reserved Kevin Stefanski riled up — or at least as riled up as he gets in press conferences.
“We don’t teach moving the ball and what’s going on right now is the Eagles sneak,” Stefanski said, referring to the infamous “Brotherly Shove,” which Philadelphia uses on short-yardage situations. “I think they’re very aware and alert to teams moving the ball forward in short yardage. We weren’t sneaking the ball, so there was no advantage to us moving the ball. Ethan doesn’t do that. He addresses the ball like he always does.
“So I just feel like with that situation, what happens is you put the officials on an alert for something, you send out a tape during the week and they’re hyper-vigilant, if you will. We’re not teaching that we don’t care about the four inches. We’re not running a quarterback sneak in those situations. So it’s frustrating. We don’t teach it. That’s part of the game that you hope to play clean and those are big moments so I’ll, I’ll try and get an answer on that, but it is very frustrating
Against Denver, the penalty negated a first down by tight end and designated sneaker Harrison Bryant in the first quarter. The Browns were able to recover and get to fourth-and-1, but Bryant fumbled the snap.
Sunday’s penalty was more consequential, with the Browns at their own 34 and still within a score. They lined up in their jumbo package with Kareem Hunt behind center Nick Harris, who was playing fullback. Hunt took the handoff but the play was blown dead.
Stefanski was visibly upset on the sideline, arguing with an official after the call.
“I moved the ball up a little bit,” Pocic said. “It’s something I’ve got to do a better job of and got to make an adjustment. You don’t want that to happen again.”
Flacco threw incomplete on back-to-back plays after moving back five yards, first to Elijah Moore and then to David Njoku, allowing the Rams to take over at the Browns’ 30. They scored five plays later to seal the win.
Stefanski’s irritation seems to stem from the spirit of the rule more than anything. On this particular play, it wasn’t a sneak call and he remains adamant his team is not trying to gain an advantage by moving the ball forward.
Pocic said it’s something they’re looking for mostly in short-yardage situations. Centers have a lot to worry about and sometimes moving the ball can be unintentional.
“It’s no excuses, but I’ll say at center, you got to look around at (defensive) tackles, you got to see safeties and stuff,” he said. “So I just got to be more aware and more conscious of it. I got to fix it.”
Regardless of how the Browns feel about the call, the goal moving forward is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“I’ve studied more center ball-handling than I ever have in my life this week,” Stefanski said. “I think each guy’s a little bit different. Some guys take it and roll it, some guys move it back, some guys move it forward. Sometimes when you’re leaning back to talk to the quarterback or the other players, you may move the ball a little bit. So, there’s obviously a little bit of movement that goes on with every single play. I think the league is trying to make sure that there’s no unfair advantage gained by the offense in these situations.
