Cleveland Browns vs. Seattle Seahawks

Cleveland Browns tight end Gary Barnidge celebrates with teammates after his touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks in the first half. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com Sunday, December 20, 2015. Seattle

(Joshua Gunter)

BEREA, Ohio -- Hawaii was already on Gary Barnidge's list of places to visit this offseason, and with a little bit of luck, it will be an all-expenses paid trip.



Snubbed for the Pro Bowl as a starter, Barnidge is on the list as an alternate and will be added if one of the starters can't play.



"I appreciate the fact that I was an alternate, but honestly that stuff doesn't matter,'' said Barnidge. "We haven't gotten the wins we wanted this year. That probably played a factor into it. That means nothing. I am not about individual awards, I'm about the team. That's the most important thing to me. We just have to get more wins.''

Despite one of the best performances by a tight end this season, Barnidge didn't make it into the top four starting tight ends. He has 68 catches for 930 yards and nine TDs, which ties Ozzie Newsome's team record for most by a Browns tight end in a season.

"Our position's got a lot of great guys,'' said Barnidge. "It's tough to choose just four.''

The tight ends that made it as starters are Barnidge's former Carolina teammate Greg Olsen (71 for 1,048, 7 TD)s, Kansas City's Travis Kelce (65 for 822, 4 TDs), New England's Rob Gronkowski (66 for 1,072 yards, 11 TDs), and Cincinnati's Tyler Eifert (48 for 564 and 12TDs). Of the four, only Gronkowski (16.2 yards per catch) and Olsen (14.8) have higher averages than Barnidge (13.7).



"There's other guys that missed it too,'' said Barnidge. "(Redskins') Jordan Reed, (Titans') Delanie Walker, they've had great seasons. (Cowboys') Jason Witten.''

Told that he picked the wrong year to have a breakout season, Barnidge said with a smile, "Hey, who says I can't do it again?''

Joe Thomas, who made his ninth straight Pro Bowl in as many NFL season, believes Barnidge should be going to Honolulu with him for the Jan. 31st game.

"You always talk about guys that have had great years, Pro Bowl type years, and certainly Gary Barnidge is one of those guys that definitely deserves it,'' said Thomas. "I expect him to be there anyway as an alternate. But it's tough. You look at those other names and they've all had great years. If you take one of those guys out and put Gary in, you're going to say he got snubbed. Of course I'm a homer and I think Gary deserves it certainly, but it's hard to argue that some of those guys didn't deserve it.''

Coach Mike Pettine agreed.

"I've said this before: it is not surprising to the people that know him because we saw glimpses of it a year ago, even when he was the second or when (former Browns and Dolphins tight end) Jordan (Cameron) was out,'' said Pettine. "As far as ranking him with those other guys, I'm not going to go there. Did Gary Barnidge play at a Pro Bowl level this year? Absolutely. That is why we are hopeful he can find a way into the game."

By the time Jan. 31st rolls around, Barnidge could be added to the list. As it stands, Eifert is out of action with a concussion.

"It'd be great to go there and join Joe and Alex and represent the Browns,''



Andrew Hawkins IR



The Browns placed receiver Andrew Hawkins on IR with his second concussion of the season, one that has his hospitalized in Pittsburgh for overnight observation. He's missed the past four games with his one and two with the previous one.



Pettine said the club hopes that it can someday announce like it did with Joe Haden that Hawkins, who will be re-evaluated, will be back next season. Haden is also on injured reserve, but has been assured by doctors that he'll be fine for 2016.



"I know it is a tricky subject,'' Pettine said. "Anytime you have a concussion that lingers for as long as Joe's did and Hawk's did, you are going to be ultra-cautious with it. I know Hawk sought out a second opinion, as he should. I know he'll get re-evaluated in a period of time. We wanted him to take a little bit more time and then go back. I won't go into the details, but hopefully, at some point, we can make that same statement with Hawk. It is nothing that you ever want to risk. We will always take the very conservative route, as we should, with situations like this.''



He added "it was great news with Joe to hear that because I know 2015 has been a struggle for him. It's tough for him to come in this building and know, as I said before, 'To who much is given, much is expected.' For him to be penciled in to have such a prominent role and then have the season not go the way that he wanted it to go and have that sense of I want to be out there and I feel like I'm letting people down but I can't be, it's been frustrating. I don't think anyone is more frustrated than those two guys because they're both competitors and they both want to be out there."



Isaiah Crowell and Taylor Gabriel excused for personal reasons

Crowell and Gabriel were excused from Wednesday's practice for personal reasons. The following players also did not practice: Duke Johnson (hamstring), Alex Mack (calf), Randy Starks (rest), Thomas (knee) and Glenn Winston (concussion).

Danny Shelton improving

Pettine said No. 12 overall pick Shelton has gotten better as the season has gone along, and played one of his best games in Seattle.

"Sometimes you see rookies who play well early and then start to drop off with the proverbial rookie wall,'' said Petitne. "That's not the case with Danny. He's doing a good job. He's getting better. He's learning. As I've said all along, there's no substitute for live game reps.

"He's played a good amount of snaps, and he's getting experience against some veteran offensive linemen and learn the tricks of the trade. He's been able to start to apply them on the field. He has a much better understanding of what we're trying to do and even more so what the other team is trying to do.''

Chiefs' Tamba Hali undergoes thumb surgery



Hali, second on the team with 6.5 sacks and first with 18 pressures, underwent surgery Tuesday to have three screws inserted in his right thumb and did not practice Wednesday. He broke the thumb Sunday against the Ravens but didn't realize it until Monday.

Coach Andy Reid said Hali is day to day.

"Because he had surgery doesn't mean he's out,'' he said.