Browns running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery called out his players Sunday after practice because no one at the position has seized control of the starting job.
"How can you play and not want to be a starter?" Montgomery said after the ninth full-squad practice of training camp. "It just bothers me that guys don't want to be the lead bell-cow guy. This game gives you so much. I always talk to them about what this game gives you as a young person, but what it does for them in life and to their families. So if you want to be a backup, then be a backup. But I mean you're going to get replaced. At some point, you've got to be a starter if you want to hang around."
Montgomery didn't single out a specific player he's waiting to take the reins. But the Browns entered camp with Isaiah Crowell, Terrance West and rookie Duke Johnson competing for the top spot on the depth chart. Crowell is the only one who has been healthy throughout, though Montgomery doesn't believe he has capitalized to the fullest.
"The fact is that you’re looking for that guy you can just strap the saddle on and they just say, 'Hey, I want the job,'" Montgomery said. "Right now, it’s a close race.
"These kids here have to realize what's important for them now. If I want to make money and get the next contract, I've got to show something. I really have to show something, and right now I think the importance of that is missing."
The story went on to say Montgomery said Crowell, who entered the NFL last year as an undrafted rookie, being the only one in a three-man race who has remained healthy doesn't guarantee he'll be the lead back. It seems that Crowell isn't taking advantage of his chance and there's also frustration West and Johnson can't get on the field. This has been a sketchy fantasy situation dating back to last season. We rank Johnson 32nd, but Crowell's ADP shows he getting drafted ahead of Johnson.
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