BEREA: There’s a chance Cameron Erving’s first season as the starting center of the Browns will be his last at the position.
On Friday, coach Hue Jackson publicly acknowledged for the first time the Browns will evaluate whether Erving should play tackle in the future instead of center.
“That’ll be something I’ll determine, too, as we continue to move forward,” Jackson said. “I’ve got to make sure I take a great look at everything so we feel comfortable as we go through the years as we move forward that we have the right pieces in the right places.
“Cam is a very important part of our future. He’s playing center now and hopefully that’s where he’ll stay. But if that’s not the right place for him, then we’ll make that decision.”
A first-round draft pick in 2015, Erving served as a backup guard last season and struggled mightily when he started four games as a rookie.
He hasn’t fared well this year, either, in his first season as an NFL center. ProFootballFocus.com has Erving ranked last among 34 centers.
Erving, 6-foot-5 and 313 pounds, hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He missed three games with a bruised lung suffered Sept. 18 in a 25-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and on Oct. 23 sat out the second half of a 31-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals with an undisclosed illness.
Now Erving is listed as questionable to play Sunday when the Browns (0-8) face the Dallas Cowboys (6-1) at FirstEnergy Stadium, though Jackson said he thought Erving would be good to go. Erving, 24, has a shoulder injury and sat out Thursday’s practice. The Browns held a walk-through session on Friday like they do during every regular practice week.
If Erving can stay on the field, he’ll be auditioning at center until Jackson says otherwise.
At Florida State University, Erving started 37 games at left tackle before moving to center for the final five games.
Jackson indicated the Browns would move Erving to right tackle, where Austin Pasztor is the starter, not left tackle, where nine-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas is entrenched.
“If you’re saying that he can’t play center, then that’s where we’ll try him out,” Jackson said of possibly moving Erving to tackle. “There’s no question. But right now, he’s the center of this football team. There are some things that he’s done good and there are some things he’s got to improve at.
“But I’m not down on Cam about this season. This is like his first opportunity of [playing center] at a high level week in and week out, and if he shows that that’s not for him, then we’ll find someplace else for him to play. But right now, I think what we’ve asked him to do, he’s done exactly what I anticipated. Can he improve? Yes, and I think he will.”
Jackson said as he looks to the future, Thomas at left tackle is the only thing set in stone on the offensive line.
“I’m going to keep searching for what I think is right for our football team as we move forward,” Jackson said. “I feel really good about where we’re at at left tackle. Obviously [Thomas is] one of the best players that’s played here and played the game. I think as we move forward, everywhere else I’m going to continue to find what I think is best.”
If the Browns eventually move Erving to tackle, they could turn to Austin Reiter at center. Reiter, 24, impressed them when he made his first regular-season NFL start Oct. 2 against Washington, only to suffer a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Loving the new guy
After a few practices with Pro Bowl linebacker Jamie Collins, the Browns are even more giddy about his arrival. They acquired him Monday in a trade with the New England Patriots.
When associate head coach-offense Pep Hamilton studied game film before the Browns faced the Patriots on Oct. 9, he determined Collins “was one of the most underrated defensive players in the National Football League.”
“He is a guy that can change a game as a defensive player, and those guys are rare,” Hamilton added. “He can play on all three levels of the defense. He can rush the passer, he can cover your backs out of the backfield and, of course, he can fit in there and stop the run. ... He has bad intentions when he gets to the ball carrier.”
Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden said he can identify good players right away and Collins fits the bill. He’s been forcing fumbles “left and right” in practice, Haden said.
“We got a whole lot better with him,” Haden said, “and I’m just super excited that he was excited to be here and is just ready to go try to win games.”
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton said Collins has a good attitude after being traded from a Super Bowl contender to the NFL’s only winless team.
“He is very happy to be here,” Horton said.
Collins has said the Browns have given him more of a family vibe than the Patriots did.
“Maybe [Patriots coach] Bill [Belichick] doesn’t give him the fatherly vibe,” Haden quipped.
Horton said Collins will play “all over” his 3-4, multifront scheme, so he won’t be strictly an inside or outside linebacker. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said Collins, who has a blocked extra point on his resume, won’t play special teams right away.
Still here
Haden remains with the Browns after Tuesday’s trade deadline passed, and that’s exactly what he expected to happen.
“I would hope that other teams would be trying to figure out if they could get me or Joe Thomas,” Haden said. “It comes with the territory. We’re an 0-8 team and we’ve been building with youth, and my contract is one of the higher contracts on the team.
“But I was super confident [I wouldn’t be traded]. I get along very well with my teammates, with the coaching staff and I felt confident that I was going to still be here.”
Extra points
• Horton on the defense’s missed tackles: “If you look at the league top-10 defenses, the average missed tackle per team, they average about 15 guys per team missing a tackle, and the average missed tackle yardage when you total everything up is I think 9.2. We are at I think 10.1. So when you look at it, it is about the same. [The No. 2 defense] Minnesota has 500 yards of missed tackles, and I think we have 372.”
• Hamilton said rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman has seemed quicker in practice since returning from the broken right hand he suffered Sept. 21. “He just to the naked eye appears to be just as fast and even more explosive,” Hamilton said.
• In addition to Erving, wide receiver Ricardo Louis (hamstring), cornerback Jamar Taylor (groin) and inside linebacker Tank Carder (concussion) are listed as questionable for Sunday.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.