Kevin Stefanski looking to cut down on flags that have made Browns' 'life hard' so far

The Browns have one statistic in which they're tops in the NFL. Unfortunately, it's not the statistic a team really wants to be the league's leader.

The 24 penalties the Browns have drawn over two games are, not surprisingly, the most in the NFL. The next closest teams behind Cleveland are its AFC North rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers (19) and Baltimore Ravens (18).

"Really disappointed there," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said in a Monday Zoom call with the media. "We need to be better in that area. It's hard to win. We don't need to make it harder on ourselves, and we did in a bunch of areas. We can just identify and correct. We'll keep hammering it, but until we do it we're just going to make life hard, and we don't want to do that."

At their current pace, the Browns will draw 204 flags over a 17-game season. That would blow away the 163 penalties committed by the 2011 Oakland Raiders.

The Browns had 11 penalties in a season-opening 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Somehow, they managed to have even more (13) in Sunday's 18-13 win at the Jacksonville Jaguars.

More than half (14) of their 24 penalties have been pre-snap. That's shooting yourself in the foot as a team before even getting a chance to snap the ball.

"For us, it's just taking ownership of what's occurred over the past two games, understanding we can't harm ourselves," safety Rodney McLeod said Monday. "And when you want to be one of those few teams that exists at the end of the year, you can't allow those sort of plays to be the reason why. We have full control over a lot of the penalties.

"We took a look at it as a team today and it was addressed and it's something that one we have to focus on. We have to do better in the detail and then we have to just hold one another accountable."

The players drawing the flags run the gamut. Defensive end Myles Garrett has been flagged three times for being offsides or in the neutral zone, one of the team leaders in flags drawn.

Kicker Dustin Hopkins may have had one of the most egregious penalties of the game in Jacksonville. He was flagged for illegal formation on the kickoff because he was across the 50 before the ball landed.

That penalty negated a fumble recovery by the Browns that could've allowed them to open up some breathing room.

"That’s a penalty, Dustin knows that," Stefanski said. "That was really disappointing. You know, that’s a game changing play. We get the ball. Obviously, Dustin kicked really well for us yesterday; he’s been a huge asset for us. But he just made a mistake there. He knows the rule, he just made a mistake”

There was also the cavalcade of penalties that ultimately cost the Browns a chance to really ice the game away. They drew a personal foul for grabbing a facemask then back-to-back holding calls against Ethan Pocic and Wyatt Teller that took them from what would've been first-and-goal at the Jaguars 9 to third-and-36 at midfield with about 1:33 remaining.

Coaches will talk all the time about practice making perfect. They'll talk about players putting extra time in to get better and improve.

Stefanski was asked if there was something to be done in practice to fix the penalty situation.

"Not really," Stefanski said. "We know the rules. An illegal shift wiped out a touchdown for them as well, and so it's so important to be about our business and the more pre-snap motion and shifts and type things that you do, you really have to be on top of it. So it's a point of emphasis for us."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski looking to cut down on flags that have made Browns' 'life hard' so far