CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Hue Jackson was so exasperated during Sunday's 31-17 loss to the Bengals that he abandoned his headset with about five minutes left, let top assistant Pep Hamilton call the plays and called out his defense for a horrible performance.

"Yeah, I took them off,'' he said. "I called the team out. Yeah, I was disappointed because I don't want anybody running the ball like that on us. We've got to get some things squared away, but I take responsibility for it all. It's not our players; we've got to fix some things and keep working on some things and we will."

By the time Jackson gave up on the headset -- his means of communication with rookie replacement quarterback Kevin Hogan -- the Browns were trailing by the final margin and had already given up most of their 559 yards, fourth-most in team history. It was also the most since they surrendered since 564 in 2008 against the Broncos.

"I don't like losing, and I can get just like anybody else,'' he said. "I can get disappointed and upset just like anybody else. Because I took them off, I knew exactly everything that was going on. I can hear. It wasn't like I wasn't involved in the game, but I did.''

Jackson, who spent the previous four years in Cincinnati and passed on a chance to succeed Marvin Lewis as head coach, admitted he did so out of extreme frustration. The Browns, who lost quarterback Cody Kessler to a concussion, fell to 0-7 and put on an embarrassing performance. They surrendered 271 yards rushing, including 168 by Jeremy Hill. They also gave up 300 yards passing to Andy Dalton and 169 receiving to A.J Green.

"I can get disappointed,'' said Jackson. "I don't like where we are as a football team, and this is my responsibility, so, at the end of the day in my mind, I have to find a way to fix it -- and as fast as I can as best I can, so that's what I have to do."

Jackson, whose team has been ravaged by injuries and also lost starting center Cam Erving at halftime to an illness, took no consolation in his good friend Lewis and his former players complimenting him after the game for how hard his team fought. The Browns were up 10-7 a play after Kessler left the game with a concussion midway through the second quarter.

"All of their players and coaches are very complimentary, but that doesn't do anything for me,'' said Jackson. "I'm just being very honest. I'm not used to this. I don't like losing, but again, until we get it right, it's going to feel like this. But we're going to keep battling, I know that.

"I keep telling you guys -- I'm not discouraged; I'm disappointed in losing. I've never lost like this. But I'm going to find a way (to win), I promise you that. I don't know when, I don't know how, but I'm going to find a way and that's what we've got to do."

Jackson watched his defense give up huge plays all afternoon, including a 40-yard run by Hill that led to a touchdown, a 44-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell, a 74-yard touchdown run by Hill in the third quarter and a 48-yard Hail Mary to Green, which he felt was demoralizing.

"Those are the plays that shouldn't happen," Jackson said. "But again, a great player made a great play. For them, he's a great player. We all know that. It's unfortunate.''

The score could've been worse, but Bengals kicker Mike Nugent missed two field goals. So Jackson called a timeout with 5:02 remaining, removed his headset and yelled at the defense. He never put them back on.

"I stand behind him on that,'' said defensive tackle Danny Shelton. "We definitely didn't play our hardest today, or the way the Browns should play."

Safety Ibraheim Campbell, who missed the tackle on Hill's 74-yard TD, said Jackson had every right to go off.

"We're an 0-7 football team, so him and everyone else is completely justified in their anger,'' he said. "And we've just got to figure out a way to get a win.''

Campbell didn't need Jackson's admonishing to know he blew it.

"Moreso than anything I felt like I let my teammates down,'' he said. "They're trusting me to do my job and be where I need to be and I wasn't there on that play.''

Hogan acknowledged that Hamilton, his old Stanford coach, started communicating the plays to him in the second half. At one point late in the game, Hamilton approached Jackson, but Jackson waved him off.

John Greco, who took over for Erving in the second half on a reshuffled line, acknowledged that Jackson was upset on the sidelines, with good reason.

"It means so much to all of us,'' he said. "We want to win for him. He takes the blame. It's all on him. I'm sure he says that but it's on all of us. We want to win that much more for him because it's going to be special when we get the first one. We don't know when it's going to be, but when it happens it's going to be special.''

He added that the game meant even a little more to the players because they wanted Jackson to beat his former team.

"We were going out trying to win this game that much more for him because of his history here, but in the end, they made more plays than we did and we've just got to keep working,'' said Greco, "because you don't see guys tanking and throwing it in and shutting it down. Everyone's fighting every play, and I appreciate that I and I know he does too. But there comes a point where we've got to start making more plays.''

Left tackle Joe Thomas acknowledged Jackson's frustration.

"I don't think he expected to be 0-7,'' he said. "We're battling and fighting to try to get a win right now, and that's tough. You catch somebody after a game and there's a lot of emotions, but I certainly expect to come back on Monday and he's going to coach as tough as he always does. But then by Wednesday he's going to bring that energy and that positivity that is needed every week."

By Sunday, he'll even have the headset back on.