Browns writer Steve Doerschuk serves up a dozen new takes, highlighted by Robert Griffin III's updated status, as the Browns limp into a Thursday night game at Baltimore

FRESH BROWNIES

Browns writer Steve Doerschuk serves up a dozen new takes as the Browns limp into a Thursday night game at Baltimore after a 35-10 loss to Dallas.

1, What's going on with Robert Griffin III relative to a possible return from the injured list?

"I haven't heard anything about it," tight end Gary Barnidge said when we put the question to him Monday.

There might be something to hear within the next few weeks.

We checked with the Browns and were told this:

Griffin, who was injured in the opener, was required to miss eight games after he was placed on injured reserve.

Those eight games are up as of the Dallas contest. Griffin now is eligible to be activated if the Browns decide to make him one of their "injured-reserve-return" players.

The Browns have been quiet as to how a fractured coracoid bone in Griffin's left (non-throwing) shoulder has been healing. According to medical websites, the average healing time for such fractures is six to eight weeks.

2, The following strikes us as the most sensible quarterback plan for what's left of the Browns season.

• Play third-round pick Cody Kessler as long as he can run out there and until Griffin is cleared to play.

• If Griffin is cleared, by all means, send him out there. The Browns need as much evidence on him as they can get.

• If Griffin is finished, play out the season with Kessler.

• If Griffin can't return and Kessler gets hurt, go back to Josh McCown, rather than Kevin Hogan.

3, Our thinking:

With Kessler, he is unlikely to be a long-term starter, but no harm is done in giving him a few more games to prove otherwise. It's a great opportunity for him, like the one Dak Prescott is running with. It's just that stories like Prescott's are rare.

With Griffin, this is the fourth season since he was rookie sensation, and it's a big reach to project him as any kind of an answer. Yet, his skill set got him drafted second overall, and it's not as if the Browns have a fail-safe fallback plan. There is a greater chance he can be a dynamic starter than there is with Kessler.

With McCown, he can make games look presentable if he needs to play. Hogan is a longshot to stay in the league more than two or three years.

4, Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey came away from the latest loss vowing the Browns will not go 0-16.

That's not much of a rally cry. Neither is this:

With three full seasons to go in addition to what's left of this one, the Browns have moved into the lead in the race for "worst record of the decade."

A 3-27 slump has left the Browns with a 28-77 record for the decade that began in 2010.

Next worse is Jacksonville at 29-75, followed by Tampa Bay at 36-66 and Tennessee at 37-68.

Detroit compiled the worst record for the decade starting in 2000. The Bengals won the booby prize for the 1990s.

5, The Browns are in a four-team race for the No. 1 overall draft pick.

The contenders: Cleveland (0-9), San Francisco (1-7), Chicago (2-6) and Jacksonville (2-6).

No one else has fewer than three wins.

The Browns are 10-point underdogs Thursday at Baltimore. The 49ers are 13-point underdogs Sunday at Arizona.

San Francisco's remaining schedule includes some winnable games (Dolphins, Bears, Jets, Rams).

The Browns will be underdogs the rest of the way (Ravens, Steelers, Giants, Bengals, Bills, Chargers, rematch with Steelers).

6, One of the Browns' numerous unusual developments across the last year was extending Barnidge's contract.

It happened when Jimmy Haslam knew he would be changing regimes, weeks before Hue Jackson was hired as head coach.

It involved a player who will turn 32 in 2017, when foundation laying might have a chance to turn into respectability.

It was a four-year deal calling for as much as $13.5 million, with $5.73 million guaranteed.

"I'm still excited to be here," Barnidge said Monday. "I still think it will turn."

7, Barnidge has been reasonably productive in starting all nine games, catching 33 passes for 403 yards.

He had 42 catches for 602 yards through nine games last year. Most of that came in seven games started by McCown. In two starts by Johnny Manziel, he caught a total of three passes. Barnidge has caught 10 passes in the two games started by McCown this year.

8, Trading for veteran linebacker Jamie Collins didn't keep the Browns from letting the Cowboys reach their season high of 35 points Sunday.

One TV clip showed Collins getting beat by Jason Witten on a touchdown pass and then laughing on the sideline.

This prompted a response from former safety Rodney Harrison on NBC's Football Night in America:

"This is the reason Belichick got rid of him. Laughing. Smiling. No big deal."

Bill Belichick shipped Collins to the Browns last week in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

9, Ex-Bengal Cris Collinsworth, another NBC analyst, says the Raiders moving from Oakland would be "a shame."

"This is one of the last old-school environments, like the Dawg Pound," Collinsworth said.

10, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy on the Browns' Thursday night opponent:

"I like the teams with the best defense. Baltimore is playing the best defense of anybody."

Dean Pees, who jumped to the NFL after his run as Kent State's head coach ran out in 2003, might be having his best year as a coordinator. He was Belichick's coordinator in New England from 2006-09. He is in his seventh season in Baltimore, his fifth as coordinator.

11, Sam Rutigliano, who was a Browns head coach longer than any of the nine men who have held the job in the expansion era, sees a quagmire where a foundation is supposed to be going in.

"If I were Hue Jackson," Rutigliano said Monday on 92.3 FM-The Fan, "I would never have taken this job."

12, Maybe the Browns' 13th appearance on a Thursday will be the lucky charm in terms of getting their first win in 2016.

Their current slump began shortly after they crushed the Bengals 24-3 on a Thursday night on Nov. 6, 2014.

Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP