One of the most peculiar relationships in the National Football

League features an unstoppable army of fans on one side Jarvis Landry Jersey , and the entire concept of preseason on the other.Diehards really can’t make up their minds. Ask them at the start of August, and they can’t wait for preseason to begin. Bring up the topic again a couple of weeks into exhibition season? They can’t wait for it to end.The run of games before the real games begin is an emotional trap for overeager optimists, who might foolishly allow their minds to trick them into believing wins at this time of year are a portent of better things to come.Article continues below ...Because preseason games don’t mean anything, right?Right. And wrong. And sometimes, neither right nor wrong.Looking into preseason results and aiming to determine if they proffer any carry-on benefit is a frustrating route to madness, which is part of what makes it fun to try. Any correlation between August excellence and winter wins should, on the surface, be immediately eliminated by the twin cases of the two worst teams in NFL history – the 2008 Detroit Lions and the 2017 Cleveland Browns.Two campaigns so forgettable that they’re actually unforgettable, with a pair of dire 0-16 records, were somehow both preceded by perfect preseasons. That’s right, those turgid Lions and the embarrassing Browns each went 4-0 before things took a spectacular turn for the worse.“Perfection,” screamed the Detroit Free Press’ banner headline after the final preseason win. A few months later, and it was perfect futility.On the flip side, however, there is some statistical evidence to suggest that being at least passably good in the warm-ups is some kind of prerequisite for later glory. Of the last 11 Super Bowl champions, none of them produced a preseason record worse than 2-2, and no title team this millennium has gone winless in the preseason.While that little tidbit reflects the quality of an organization perhaps more than it does the lineups they fielded in any of those individual games, the trend is clear. Teams that bumble their way through the NFL’s exhibition season don’t stand much of a chance come the postseason. And in that sense, preseason wins matter — as a barometer for the overall health of an NFL team as much as anything else.The (preseason) best of those champions, the 2013 Seattle Seahawks, are one of 27 teams to run the table in preseason over the last 14 years. But that is where it gets a little strange. Of those preseason perfectionists, not much went right afterwards. The 27 flawless teams went on to a combined record of 198-235. Collectively, they performed 23 games worse than those same teams in the previous season.That’s why, in NFL land Genard Avery Color Rush Jersey , most people will tell you not to pay too much attention to preseason. Or, at the very least, don’t place too much stock in the results, no matter what you do.“Don’t get too high or too low about the final record,” former Washington Redskins and Houston Texans executive Charley Casserly wrote on NFL.com. “This period is primarily used for training and player evaluations. Records aren’t important until September.”The primary reasoning for this, of course, is that so many of the games are populated by lineups markedly different from what will actually be seen on the field during the regular season. It is a time for the hopeful to battle it out for the final few places on the roster, for second- and third-string quarterbacks to get reps, and for the main guys to rest up. So a true Super Bowl contender should expect mixed results in the win column in August while simultaneously possessing enough skill and cohesion to come away with a couple victories in the preseason laboratory.Middling teams, meanwhile, can win amid turmoil — the Oakland Raiders are 2-0 despite all the noise going on with Antonio Brown and his helmet saga — especially if they’re focused more on the preseason victories and less on making sure their team is fit for a 16-game grind and a potential run to a Super Bowl. Hence, the “curse“ of 4-0.In Atlanta (where the Falcons are 0-3, with two games remaining, as they appeared in the Hall of Fame Game), standout receiver Julio Jones is not planning to play a single down in preseason. FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd believes that should be the blueprint.“I totally agree (with Jones),” Cowherd said. “I don’t get the preseason. I love the NFL, but I can also say there are things I don’t like about it. I don’t like guys playing. Stars … they don’t need preseason games.”Sure, we get it. It is just preseason. Whatever happens in these few weeks will soon be long forgotten once the serious business gets underway.But football fans are a fickle bunch, especially those who have been starved of success. Trust me, there are a fair number of Raiders, and New York Giants, and Buffalo Bills, and yes, Browns fans right now who quite like that little stat about the Super Bowl champ always batting .500 or above in recent times — although https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Austin-Corbett-Jersey , after reading this, they might be rooting for an experimental loss or two along the way.So let them have their fun. Why not? After all, as the Lions and Browns have shown in the past, there is no guarantee it will last. BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The losses are piling up for the Browns — in the standings, and on the sideline.On Wednesday, two defensive starters were added to the stack.Cleveland placed linebacker Christian Kirksey and cornerback E.J. Gaines on injured reserve, ending their seasons with seven games remaining and putting further strain on a unit lacking quality depth and experience.“Those two guys, they really set a precedent for what we wanted to do as a team, as a defense,” said cornerback T.J. Carrie. “And, of course, they’ll still be here sparingly in and out throughout the week, but it’s a lot different when they were on the field fighting with you, blood, sweat and tears with you, through the trenches.“We’re going to definitely miss that. Those are two players that we can’t replace.”One of the team’s captains, Kirksey injured his left hamstring in the second quarter Sunday as the Browns (2-6-1) lost their fourth straight game, 37-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.Gaines sustained his second concussion in three weeks when he took a knee to the helmet while trying to make a tackle in the first quarter.The loss of Kirksey is especially damaging because he’s one of the team’s leaders. The fifth-year pro has played on the weak side and in the middle this season, making 43 tackles and two interceptions.“Kirko is kind of the heart and soul of the defense, heart and soul of the team in the locker room, on the field, just how he goes about his business,” said linebacker Joe Schobert Nick Chubb Jersey , a 2017 Pro Bowler who returned to practice after missing three games with a hamstring injury. “It’s the next-man-up mentality, but there’s things that you’re going to miss.”Schobert’s return will help ease the loss of Kirksey, and the Browns are expected to have defensive back Damarious Randall for Sunday’s game against Atlanta after he missed last week’s game with a groin injury.Linebacker Jamie Collins (ankle) and rookie cornerback Denzel Ward (hip) were limited in practice, but interim coach Gregg Williams expects both back on the field Thursday.Randall, who has played cornerback and free safety, felt he was healthy enough to play last week, but Williams kept him out so he would have the versatile defensive back for multiple games. Randall’s absence became magnified when Ward and Gaines went down on the Chiefs’ opening drive, forcing Williams to adjust his game plan against the NFL’s most electrifying offense and play seldom-used reserves Denzel Rice and Tavierre Thomas.“It’s very hard,” Carrie said of losing two key players. “It changes the game plan. It changes a lot of things because you can only give practice reps to so many guys, and so you get guys that come in and they’re athletes, but it’s hard when you don’t know the schematics of the little details that we put in for that game.”And, as luck would have it, the banged-up Browns will have to deal with a talented Atlanta team that has overcome its own injury issues and reeled off three straight wins.Needing seasoned secondary help, the Browns claimed Phillip Gaines off waivers from Buffalo and Jermaine Whitehead from Green Bay. To make roster room, Rice was waived.Gaines spent four years with Kansas City before signing with Buffalo. Whitehead played in 19 games with the Packers from 2016-18.Schobert’s return is vital to Cleveland’s defense as he’s the one responsible for calling out Williams’ pre-snap schemes and getting his teammates organized — an on-field coach.After missing three weeks, getting back on the field will be a welcomed change for Schobert, who had played every defensive snap since the start of the 2017 season until he got hurt on Oct. 21 at Tampa Bay.“It is just different. It is weird,” Schobert said of being inactive. “Especially with a hamstring. You just walk around on the sideline feeling good and watching people on the field thinking you can be out there — wishing you could be out there. You just have to kind of suck it up and take it into your own role however you can help a team in that aspect.“That is what I was doing. Just kind of jumped right into more of a coaching aspect, trying to keep myself involved that way. I think it helped.”NOTES: Rookie LT Desmond Harrison was limited in practice after missing last week’s game with an undisclosed illness. Greg Robinson stepped in and played well in his first start for Cleveland. Williams hasn’t decided who he’ll play against the Falcons. “What we will do is every day is an interview and both of them are taking reps,” he said. “By the end of the week, we will make what is best and it is good — the fact that you have depth. Guys can compete and get ready to roll.” … The Browns signed DB Juston Burris to the active roster off the Jets‘ practice squad. A fourth-round pick in 2016, he appeared in 34 games for New York.