Hue Jackson is in unfamiliar territory. For the first time since coming to Cleveland ahead of the 2016 season he's having to manage players' expectations about becoming too comfortable with all the winning. Jackson entered 2018 with a 1-31 record, including a big ol' goose egg for all of 2017. But the Browns tied the Steelers in the season opener and are 2-2 in their subsequent four games.
And while they're still in last place in the division (alongside Pittsburgh), this isn't like previous years. No one thinks the season is over; in fact, just the opposite -- the Browns are right in the thick of it for the first time since 2014, when they jumped out to a 6-3 record and even led the AFC North in November. Of course, they limped across the finish line, going 1-6 over the final two months of the season but this feels completely different than that.
Which explains why longtime Steelers fan and even longer time bandwagon fan Snoop Dogg showed up at Browns practice this week.
But Jackson is wary of the attention because it distracts from the bigger picture: Winning.
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"Snoop, I've known him for quite a while," Jackson said, via Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "He's been around some other places I have been. ... It was good to have him out for a moment. A lot of guys see him on the sideline, and his message was 'Man, you guys are doing some good things, some really good things.' I thought that was great. At the same time, there are going to be a lot of people that want to come be on this wagon when the wagon gets rolling, and we're going to circle the wagon. I know that because I didn't see any of these people the last two years. I'm still the same guy.
"I still knew all of these people prior to this year. We're not going to get caught up in any of that. Our players won't, and that's my message to them. We are going to work, and we're going to continue to get better and see where we are."
To repeat: People are fighting for seats on the Browns bandwagon.
Snoop was in Cleveland to promote his stage play, "Redemption of a Dogg," which opens later this month. But the man who has previously been seen wearing hats or jerseys for the following NFL teams -- Buccaneers, Cardinals, Chiefs, Cowboys, Eagles, Jaguars, Packers, Patriots, Raiders, Ravens, Seahawks and Steelers -- has now added the Browns to his ever-growing list.
"The real Dogg had to come see the Dawg Pound and make it official," Snoop said during an apperance on Cleveland Browns Daily. "I like a lot of players y'all got on your team. I like what y'all doing. (Jarvis) Landry, (Baker) Mayfield, (Myles) Garrett, (Jabrill) Peppers. It's a bunch of guys I like how they get down."
The Browns are home dogs against the Chargers on Sunday though we still like them to win.