BEREA, Ohio -- Greg Little, who went underground after losing his starting job to Davone Bess last month following a series of traffic violations, spoke for the first time Thursday in more than a month and admitted that his poor start to the season was a turning point.

Asked if his demotion after the second game woke him up, he said, "Not really. My performance itself was a wakeup call.''

So what part of his game rankled him the most?

"Just catching the ball,'' he said.

Little caught only eight of the 22 passes thrown his way the first two games for 59 yards. He dropped three in those losses to Miami and Baltimore.

"I was just pushing myself, trying to do more than what was there, trying to hit a home run on every ball,'' he said. "[I need] to just hit a base hit and keep it moving.”

So his obvious lack of chemistry with Brandon Weeden wasn't Weeden's fault?

“It was more me than Brandon,'' said Little.

And now?

"I just want to continue to get better every week and continue to make game-changing plays,'' he said.

Back in the starting lineup in Sunday's 31-17 loss to the Lions, Little has only 16 catches for 161 yards and one touchdown, a 2-yarder against the Lions. The receptions are tied for 67th in the NFL and the yards are 80th.

Off the field, Little was stopped by police again after the Sept. 15 14-6 loss in Baltimore -- at 1 o'clock in the morning in the Flats -- and cited for three more traffic violations: failure to stop at a stop sign, change of course and driving with a suspended license, according to police.

The stop came days after Little paid a $427 fine for speeding through Strongsville in August with expired license plates. In April, he totaled his Audi while drag racing on Ohio 176 near Spring Road, telling police he was traveling 127 mph in a 55 zone.

Little apologized for his recklessness and said "I could have seriously put my life and other lives in danger."

Coach Rob Chudzinski insisted Little's demotion was due to on-field performance, but the off-the-field indiscretions undoubtedly contributed. Those first two games, the Browns were without receiver Josh Gordon, serving his NFL suspension for a positive codeine test. The club was counting on Little to step up, and he failed to get the job done.

By the time he suited up for Week 3 in Minnesota -- his first contest coming off the bench -- rumors swirled that the Browns were fielding offers for Gordon and Little.

The trade deadline is Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. Does it bother Little that he might be on the block?

"No it doesn't,'' he said. "I mean, I haven't heard anything from the participants that matter, so I'm just going to continue to play hard."

In addition to the on-field struggles and the traffic woes, Little's connections with sports agent Terry Watson were revived publicly last week in Watson's trial in Georgia for violating the state's sports agent laws.

Little, who was suspended for his final season at North Carolina for receiving what was originally reported as about $5,000, came clean in January and said the figure was $20,000. Watson was charged last week with 13 counts of violations, and Little was named in nine of them.

But Little said that situation hasn't been an issue.

"The thing is I don’t even know about it unless our PR staff tells me,'' he said. "I can honestly laugh about it this time because I’ve probably been back to North Carolina less times than I can count on one hand in the past eight months to a year, and I’ve been on campus probably two times in the past two years. So I mean that is what it is.”

Asked if he was worried he could've been charged along with the agent, he said, "No, ‘cause I don’t even know who’s getting charged for what.”

Little said that an apparent boycott of the media over the past month hasn't been intentional. He hasn't talked since the post-game locker room in Baltimore Sept. 15. But a source said he was upset over his benching.

"Not really,'' he said. "The media doesn't really bother me at all. I've never had a problem with talking to the media or anything like that. It's just trying to work on some things and just keep on moving forward."

He said he was spending his time trying to improve his game.

"I've been doing some things in the film room a lot with Brandon and also just lifting weights as well,'' he said. "I didn't want to break my routine.''

In regaining some playing time, he did so with a different mindset. Instead of trying too hard, he'll stay within his game.

"Yeah, and if more is there, then I’m going to try to make more of it,'' he said. "I think I am playing better. Of course, there are areas to get better in throughout the week. I'm just going to keep trying to continue to make plays and get better."

Little, who's tied for 11th in the league with four dropped passes, had a chance to be the hero with a leaping 25-yard sideline catch near midfield with the Browns trailing, 21-17. But the refs ruled he didn't get both feet inbounds. The Browns punted, and Weeden threw his game-sealing interception on the next drive.

"That was a huge, huge play in the game,'' Little said. "Then it again it was just one play and one play never really loses the game."

He said he "knew for a fact'' both feet were in. "I remember the actual catch and knowing that I got two feet down and looking up at the Jumbotron and watching the replay of it confirmed what I had actually had done and I just didn't know the (officials') thought process behind that.''

By the end of the game, Little was shaking his head over the home fans booing Weeden.

"I think once we get back in the swing of things and are winning, I’m likely to see the fans that boo are the same fans that cheer,'' he said. "So that’s going to make me laugh, that's for sure.''

He said fans have been unfair to Weeden. "It's not like his decision-making over and over is wrong. There’s things that are easily curable.

"We’re all a team,'' he said. "The common goal is to win. Here or there it doesn’t matter to me. We just still got to go out and play.”

Now that he's back in the starting lineup, he's determined to stay there.

"Oh yeah, for sure,'' he said.