Browns' Dansby: Changes were needed due to 'internal struggle'

By foxsports
Published

Turns out all those rumors of a rift in the departed Cleveland Browns regime may not have been far off after all. 

Browns linebacker Karlos Dansby said an "internal struggle" that built up during the team's season-ending five-game losing streak in 2014 carried over and festered throughout 2015. Dansby believes it all started with an internal conflict over whether the team should start Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel down the stretch. 

While former head coach Mike Pettine and ex-general manager Ray Farmer both dispelled the notion of problems between them, Dansby said the atmosphere within the team was "suffocating" and was glad owner Jimmy Haslam cleaned house once again after the season, per ESPN.com's Pat McManamon.  

"I think everybody needed it, man. Even the organization. I think the organization needed it more than the players.

"There was something about the situation that wasn't right. And it was in the atmosphere. It was suffocating. You kept fighting and fighting and fighting, but you know it's there. You'd try to fight out of it, but it kept grabbing you and somehow pulling down into that boat."

While Dansby couldn't quite put his finger on the problem, he said it was obvious that issues with the front office were wearing on Pettine, and in turn, brought down the team. 

"I felt like it was too much on him fighting that fight and then trying to inspire us. He couldn't balance it because that fight was too overwhelming. You could see it on his face and in his body language.

"It's suffocating. Because you try to do everything you can to try to motivate guys and keep guys inspired. When you're not getting inspiration from the leader, it was tough. It was a tough job for us. I can't lie."

Farmer was suspended the first four games of the season due to Textgate, but Pettine said last summer that they were "singing out of the same hymnal." The duo may not have been singing the same tune once the season started. Dwayne Bowe, Farmer's big free agent signing, barely saw the field all season despite $9 million in guarantees. 

Dansby, who led the team with 108 tackles, is signed for two more seasons in Cleveland. He'll be hoping that Hue Jackson, the Browns' ninth head coach since 1999, will be the right man for the job.