Josh Cribbs, who now owns the most kickoff returns for touchdowns in NFL history with eight — thanks to two returns in Sunday's win at Kansas City — started the season with visions of lining up at wide receiver.
His role on offense eventually evolved into him being inserted at running back or quarterback in the team's Wildcat package, which has been used to varying degrees, depending upon the opponent.
Now, there's recent talk about the possibility of Cribbs trying out on the other side of the ball at safety, where his speed and anticipation on defense also could make an impact.
''I would think about it,'' Browns coach Eric Mangini said. ''I've always taken this mindset with players: often times in high school they play everything; in college there's some guys who carry over and when you get to pro football, it is so specialized that very rarely do you see other guys play other spots . . . But if they have those skill sets, why not use that? It takes a special guy to do that.''
Asked if Cribbs has a good defensive mindset, Mangini was quick to answer.
''Oh yeah, yeah,'' the coach said. ''He's a physical tackler, he's very aggressive, and has good ball skills and he'd be great with interceptions to return a pick. I don't think it's going to happen short term, but it could be something that evolves.''
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